Bilingualism good for the brain

This report gives several reasons why bilingualism is good for us. Besides the practical ones.   - - Donna Poisl

by Jessica Marshall, Discovery News

A growing body of research shows that regularly speaking two languages comes with certain types of improved mental performance.

In a Perspective article appearing in the journal Science, Jared Diamond of the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of Guns, Germs and Steel highlights studies of bilingualism that show this effect.

Diamond began wondering about the effects on the brain of multilingualism while camping with New Guinea Highlanders, all of whom could speak between five and 15 languages.

"What are the cognitive effects of such multilingualism?" asks Diamond in the new article.
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