Week 11

P3 / Section 8

BILINGUALISM : ADVANTAGE OR DISADVANTAGE?

There are a lot of ways to communicate with people. Speaking is one of these ways. It is
easy for one to talk with people who speak one’s language. But what about the other people? In
that point, Bilingualism takes over the mission. A Bilingual person is someone who speaks two (or
more) languages. More than half of the world’s population is bilingual now. People may become
bilingual by acquiring two languages at the same time in childhood or by learning a second
language sometime after acquiring their mother tongue. It sounds nice to people but it has some
disadvantages as much as it has advantages.

Firstly, bilingualism is a bridge to communicate with other people from other cultures. To
know more than one language helps people to acquire speaking and listening skills. Thus,
bilingual people are more sociable than monolinguals. Moreover, Bilingualism develops one’s
problem-solving abilities and also facilitates paying more attention something. Thinking creatively
and objectively acquired by the person who is bilingual. In other words, it improves one’s
executive skills. According to American Council on Education (ACE), bilingualism is the to be
successful in global economy. For example, in Israel or Netherlands, people who are bilingual earn
more money and jump at opportunities more than people who just speak Hebrew and Dutch.

Secondly, bilingualism not only helps one to improve his/her social life but also it is
important to stay healthy. According to some research, bilingual people had been diagnosed with
symptoms of dementia 5 years later than monolingual people. For example Alzheimer patients
who are bilingual are getting slower brain degeneration than monolingual patients. Bilingualism
affects to the brain directly and keeps brain healthy and awake.

On the negative side, being bilingual may cause identity confusion. Some languages and
cultures are tougher, more direct or more formal than others. For example, when one switches to
German, one’s voice might drop a few octaves and people around a person will say how different
he/she is depending on which language one is speaking. People who are bilingual say that they
can’t express themselves in only one language. Sometimes the other language has the best word
for what one wants to say, but it doesn’t make any sense in the language of the audience so he/
she has to go the long way around in his/her mind to get to the word that works best.

In conclusion, bilingualism has advantages and disadvantages. It develops the brain but it
also causes some personality problems. One must consider these advantages and disadvantages
while choosing the language he/she wants to learn. Thus, fixing some problems won’t be hard.