Bilingual

Je vais tres bien, merci. I am doing very well, thank you. Majority of the time, monolinguals will live their whole life believing that the proper answer for "how are you" is "I am good" when actually it is "I am doing well." Understanding more than one language will not only help you speak English well, it will also develop your mind, help you appreciate international literature, music, film, etc., and will allow you to communicate with the people you would otherwise not have the chance to know. English is known as the "borrow language" since most of the vocabulary originated from Anglo-Norman languages. Meaning that the English language adopted several foreign words from many countries. So you may even use an "extinct" word without knowing like chalice. A bilingual person's brain handles two languages at the same which looks after high-level thought, multi-tasking, and sustained and switching attention, and working memory. In a 2009 experiment, bilingual and monolinguals respond alike when the brain's monitoring system is not taxed, but when the brain requires high monitoring demands, bilinguals were faster and outperform monolingual people in spatial working memory tasks. Developing your mind by learning more languages can help maintain cognitive function and delay the symptoms of dementia by five years. Most works of art, at some point, communicate with each other in another language. Throughout the series, Harry Potter, all the spells were used in Latin. The Patronus Charm, Expecto Patronum, in Latin means "to throw out" and statue, from the same language, meaning "image". In the Percy Jackson series, Latin is used on scriptures, buildings, books, etc. since it takes place with the ancient Greek gods. Another example would be the Beautiful Creatures who's spells, like Harry Potter are in Latin. While listening to jazz, I start to realize that some of the songs aren't in English. For example, "Quando, Quando, Quando" by Michael Buble is in Spanish, but enjoyed by English speakers. Nat King Cole sings L-O-V-E in a multilingual version. "Volare" by Dean Martin is sung in Italian, and a big hit. These song are sung in different languages for our pleasure, wouldn't"t you want to understand what they are singing? In the beginning of "The Avengers", the Black Widow is speaking Russian to get top secret information from a Russian man. All throughout "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", the actors are speaking Greek from time to time. Even though these movies are made in English, another language is added to make the movie seem realistic and enjoyable. Being bilingual will also give you a chance to speak to someone you would otherwise not have the chance to know. Some grandparents, not most, only know to speak their native language. It would be hard to communicate and to try to get to know them. Also, knowing their language will bring you a lot closer to someone. When traveling to foreign places, locals would be more appreciated if you speak to them in the foreign language. You might even create a friendship. Plus, you'll feel more at home. Therefore, being bilingual will increase your knowledge in English, develop your mind, enjoy the arts better than you already do, and give you chance to bond with others. Let's learn a new language!