The Benefits of Being Bilingual

37% of highschool graduates don’t know where they want to be in life (according to DistrectAddministration.com). However, by the eighth grade, Amber Thevenet knew she wanted to be a high school French teacher. Amber’s life was filled with the passion for all things France. From an initial study abroad trip in highschool, to packing up and moving to France as an adult, her story shows the difference of a small family in Avignon to three kids back in the US.

As a French teacher, it is very important to Amber that kids learn how to appreciate French culture as much as she does and how to speak that language.

Statistics show that children who are bilingual have an easier time understanding math concepts, using logic, focusing and remembering, and learning more languages later in life. Adults who speak multiple languages have better job opportunities with up to one half of adults world wide speaking more than one language according to “The Benefits of Being Bilingual – A Review for Teachers and Other Early Education Program Providers.” Although there are many jobs across America which do not require multiple languages, simply the skill of being able to comprehend more than one language is very beneficial to all adults and students alike. Communication is important and being able to communicate with another culture is very helpful in one’s career and personal life.

Other than the fact that children might confuse the two languages and speak as if they were one, there are not many disadvantages with speaking multiple languages. Newsdle’s article called “What Percentage of the World’s Population is Bilingual?” explains that, “There are 67.3 million people in the US who are bilingual or multilingual, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, or 20.6% of the population.” Most of these people speak Spanish and English. As more people speak multiple languages, more ideas are shared and more people are united. So being bilingual isn’t just beneficial for the person, but also the community of people who get to have conversations with that person.

QUESTION

“The Benefits of Being Bilingual” from Inlingua informs the reader that, “research shows that if you want to have native-like knowledge of a language, you should ideally start learning before age 10.” If this is so, why do many schools wait until middle and highschool until teaching a second language?

Some schools would argue that Elementary school is mostly about obtaining basic life skills used to process more classes later on in their school courier. Although this may be true, it is way more beneficial for students to learn early on in life, so this normality of teaching a second language in middle school should change if they want to make the classes easier for students. 

DUOLINGO–PROS AND CONS

Duolingo is an app that many people use to help them learn a new language. The app is laid out like a game in which people keep streaks that are very important to people. Duolingo has a mascot of  an owl that uses fear tactics to keep people on the app. Although this can be a great support for a bilingual journey, the app’s audio recognition needs some help. People on the app could be pronouncing something completely wrong without knowing it. As people use Duolingo they might learn how to read or write the language but not so much speak it.

WILL SECOND LANGUAGES BECOME MORE POPULAR?

LingoMelo says that public schools offering a second language class across the US have increased 13.6% since 2008 but that does not necessarily mean that these children will stay bilingual into their adulthood. 

Amber Thevenet continued with her passion for the French language to this very day and she is helping many students uncover their passion for France as well. With higher levels of productivity and strengthening of the brain along with communication with more people, a second language is always beneficial.