I grew up in a predominantly white town. The language spoken was English, and very few people had a second, let alone third language background. Given the small Midwest location this made sense.
Throughout Elementary and Middle school, I was educated in home and publicly off and on. My mother had studied in Quebec and had a French background, therefore during my time as a homeschooler, especially when younger, my sisters and I received some basic instruction in French. These lessons were few and far between but when I transitioned to public education full time I found that in my first Spanish class much of the background work my mother had done allowed for some familiarity with the language structure. This knowledge has all but disappeared, I can now merely introduce myself and apologize (which is how I primarily communicate in any language).
While my mother had this second language, my father did not share the same enthusiasm. He did however expose me to the world of American Sign Language (ASL), something he and some friends picked up in high school as an alternative to writing notes. Interestingly enough, I took an ASL course through my elementary school when I was five-and I can still remember the manual alphabet and the few basic signs we learned. On the other hand, my French knowledge, which was taught to me at a later age, around seven or eight, has all but disappeared.
These are personal experiences, and those that know me could attest to my having a poor memory in general, something I wouldn’t deny given some recent circumstances of getting turned around in a dorm hall. These experiences are personal, but there are vast amounts of evidence surrounding the idea that Bilingualism improves memory function, perhaps even helping offset dementia and memory loss in elders.
In an effort to understand more on this subject I turned to the American Council on The Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Their website offered exhaustive resources concerning studies done on the bilingual elderly, the performance of bilingual children in school and the memory function in comparison to the student who did not have a bilingual background. Specifically, in the results of a study concerning “Age-Related Cognitive Loss” studies showed that the adults with a strong bilingual background had a better performing working memory* in comparison to adults that would not be considered bilingual.
The results from this study, and the countless others offered on the ACTFL website, provide evidence that the earlier children are exposed to a new language, the greater the benefits later on. Assuming the language is put to use regularly along with their first language, the benefits are overwhelming as the child matures into an adult. Language provides people with a new culture, community and of course another perspective on communication. My experiences with Spanish and ASL have shown me new ways to communicate, given me some incredible friends, and have opened up countless opportunities in my future career choice. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to have learned a new language, and to continue learning about the culture surrounding the Spanish language.
If you're feeling inspired, take some time to look into your language resources. One of the easiest, in my personal experience, is the fun app, "Duolingo" (its free!)
*The working memory is the part of the short-term memory processing center and is also associated with linguistic processing
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