Early this year when the study came out on the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, I was so sure something was amiss - HERE. I am tri-lingual, wasn't sure about any cognitive benefits but I do remember how it used to drive me nuts during the childhood days (still to a certain extent, writing helps me slowly reduce some of it). Hebert blogged on this today, confirming my apprehension.
"Is there any downside to bilingualism? Yes. As reported on-line in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, Bialystok’s studies also found that bilinguals have less linguistic proficiency in either of their two languages than do those who only speak that language. They have somewhat smaller vocabularies, for example, and aren’t as rapid at retrieving word meanings. But compared to the dramatic cognitive advantages of learning a second language, that seems a small price to pay."
I always wondered why there more Indian scientists than popular Indian English authors. Does the downside of bilingualism factors into that scarcity?
In any case, I don't regret learning more than one language.
"Is there any downside to bilingualism? Yes. As reported on-line in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, Bialystok’s studies also found that bilinguals have less linguistic proficiency in either of their two languages than do those who only speak that language. They have somewhat smaller vocabularies, for example, and aren’t as rapid at retrieving word meanings. But compared to the dramatic cognitive advantages of learning a second language, that seems a small price to pay."
I always wondered why there more Indian scientists than popular Indian English authors. Does the downside of bilingualism factors into that scarcity?
In any case, I don't regret learning more than one language.
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