The benefits of a bilingual brain - Mia Nacamulli

Translator: Mehmet Sıddık Dilek Reviewer: ronya bewran

¿Hablas español? Parlez-vous français? 你会说中文吗？

hablas espanol?parlez-vous français?

Go hûn bêjin ''sî'' û ''oui'' xuyaye hûn bi îngîlîzî temaşe dikin.

If you answered, "sí," "oui," or "会" and you're watching this in English,

Belkî bexte we heye hûn ji wek geleka bi duzimanî bin

chances are you belong to the world's bilingual and multilingual majority.

Li nik bi hesanî gerandina dine û bê binnivîs temaşekirina filma,

And besides having an easier time traveling

or watching movies without subtitles,

duzimanî û pirzimanî tê wateya ku mêjiye te

knowing two or more languages means that your brain

may actually look and work differently than those of your monolingual friends.

ji miroven yekziman cudatir xuya dike û dişixule.

So what does it really mean to know a language?

Aya bi rastî wateya zanîna zimanekî çi ye?

Language ability is typically measured in two active parts, speaking and writing,

Zîrekiya ziman bi du hêle aktîf, peyivandin-nivîsandin

and two passive parts, listening and reading.

û bi du hêle pasîf guhdarkirin-xwendin tê pivan

While a balanced bilingual has near equal

Harmonîya di navbera du zimane de

zîrekîya di çûn û hatina di navbera her du zimane de ye.

abilities across the board in two languages,

Zanîn û bikaranîna zimanen gelek duzimaniya

most bilinguals around the world know and use their languages

in varying proportions.

ji hev cuda ye.

And depending on their situation and how they acquired each language,

Giredayî rewşa wa û çawa hînî her zimanî bûna.

they can be classified into three general types.

Di be sê cur e.

Wek mînak em li Gabriella meze kin.

For example, let's take Gabriella,

whose family immigrates to the US from Peru when she's two-years old.

Hê du salî malbata wê ji Peru koçî amerika kir.

Wek duziamniya pêkhatî

As a compound bilingual,

Gabriella develops two linguistic codes simultaneously,

Gabriella bi hev re bi du zimana mezin bû,

bi têne konseptekê re,

with a single set of concepts,

hînî spanyolî û îngilîzî bû,

learning both English and Spanish

û dinyaya dora xwe nas kir.

as she begins to process the world around her.

Birayê we deh salî dibe ku duzimaniya wî bi koordine be,

Her teenage brother, on the other hand, might be a coordinate bilingual,

bi du konseptî şixulî.

working with two sets of concepts,

learning English in school,

Li dibistanê hînî îngilizî bû

di heman demê de li malê bi spanyolî peyivî.

while continuing to speak Spanish at home and with friends.

Finally, Gabriella's parents are likely to be subordinate bilinguals

Di dawiye de dê û bavên gabriella duzimaniya wan behtir giredayî ye.

Lewra wan zimanê duyemîn

who learn a secondary language

bi reya zimanê zikmakî hîn bûn.

by filtering it through their primary language.

Heye ev her sê cure duzimanî karin terî wan bikin

Because all types of bilingual people can become fully proficient in a language

ji xeynî devoka wan.

regardless of accent or pronunciation,

Belkî yekî ji rêzê fem neke cudahiye.

the difference may not be apparent to a casual observer.

But recent advances in brain imaging technology

Xebatên zanistî li ser mêjî,

have given neurolinguists a glimpse

hinek nîşan dan xuya kirin

into how specific aspects of language learning affect the bilingual brain.

ku çawa duzimanî bandore li ser mêjî dike.

Baş tê zanîn ku nîvê mêjî ye çepê serdest e

It's well known that the brain's left hemisphere is more dominant

di mantik û analîtîke de.

and analytical in logical processes,

Nîvê rastê jî bo hest û civakî serdesttir e.

while the right hemisphere is more active in emotional and social ones,

Ev veqetandin ne tam misoger ê.

though this is a matter of degree, not an absolute split.

Wexta ku mirov mezin dibin

The fact that language involves both types of functions

while lateralization develops gradually with age,

bi wext re alîbûn jî peş dikeve.

has lead to the critical period hypothesis.

Ji vir hîpotezêk girîng derdikeve.

According to this theory,

Li gor vê teorîye

children learn languages more easily

zarok pir hesantir hînî ziman dibin.

because the plasticity of their developing brains

Lewra guherîbûn di mêjîye wan de

dihele ku her du alî mêjîyê xwe bo ziman bi kar bînin.

lets them use both hemispheres in language acquisition,

while in most adults, language is lateralized to one hemisphere,

Halbûkî mêjîye mezina,alîyek têne bo ziman dişixule,

usually the left.

bi giştî alîye çep e.

If this is true, learning a language in childhood

Ku ev rast be,hînbûna ziman di zarokîtiye de

may give you a more holistic grasp of its social and emotional contexts.

hest û cîvakî jî dide mirov.

Conversely, recent research showed

Xebatên dawî nîşan dikin

that people who learned a second language in adulthood

mirovên kû mezinahîya xwe de hînî zimanê duyemîn bûyî,

exhibit less emotional bias and a more rational approach

hindiktir hestîyarî û behtir mantiqî nezîkî

mijarê di zimanê xwe ye duyemîn dibin,

when confronting problems in the second language

than in their native one.

li gorî zimanê zikmakî.

But regardless of when you acquire additional languages,

Ji bilî ku hûn kengî hînî zimanê duyemîn bûne

being multilingual gives your brain some remarkable advantages.

pirzimanî guhertinên girîng çê dike di mêjî de.

Hinek ji wan eşkere ne,

Some of these are even visible,

such as higher density of the grey matter

mînak behtir alava grî

that contains most of your brain's neurons and synapses,

ku tê de behtîrîn noron û sînapsê mêjî hene

û mêjî behtir aktîf e, dema ku zimanê duyemîn dişuxile.

and more activity in certain regions when engaging a second language.

Tiştekî din bo mirovên duzimanî jî,

The heightened workout a bilingual brain receives throughout its life

can also help delay the onset of diseases, like Alzheimer's and dementia

nexweşiye wek alzheimer û demans 5 sal

by as much as five years.

dereng dibînin.

Fikra ku hişmendî ji duzimaniya sûd digire

The idea of major cognitive benefits to bilingualism

may seem intuitive now,

behtir texmîn e.

but it would have surprised earlier experts.

Lê li gor pîsorê kevin ne wisa bû.

Berî 1960'î dihat gotin duzimanî peşkeftina zarokan

Before the 1960s, bilingualism was considered a handicap

hedika dike û nebaş e.

that slowed a child's development

by forcing them to spend too much energy distinguishing between languages,

Çunkî zarok dijwarî dikişînin di navbera du zimanan de.

a view based largely on flawed studies.

ew fikir jî texmîn bû.

Lê xebatên dawî nîşan dikin

And while a more recent study did show

di nav zarokên duzimanî de hinek xeletî behtir in,

that reaction times and errors increase for some bilingual students

in cross-language tests,

di azmûnê zimanî de.

Lê da xuya kirin pedivîbûna çûn û hatina nav zimanan de

it also showed that the effort and attention needed

to switch between languages triggered more activity in,

and potentially strengthened, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

vê herema mêjî xurttir dike.

Ev herema mêjî karê wek çareserkirina pirsgireka,

This is the part of the brain that plays a large role

in executive function, problem solving, switching between tasks,

guhertina peywiran

û wexta bal vêdanê de zanyarîye din qut dike.

and focusing while filtering out irrelevant information.

So, while bilingualism may not necessarily make you smarter,

Belkî duzimanî mejî zîrektir neke,

it does make your brain more healthy, complex and actively engaged,

lê tenduristîye,aktîfbûna mejî zede dike.

and even if you didn't have the good fortune

Zarokîya xwe de hûn ne pirzimanî bin jî

of learning a second language as a child,

it's never too late to do yourself a favor

tu carî ne derenge ku hînî zimanekî din bibin.

and make the linguistic leap from, "Hello,"

Hûn he jî dikarin hînî ''hello,hola,bonjour'' bibin.

to, "Hola," "Bonjour" or "你好’s"

because when it comes to our brains a little exercise can go a long way.

Çunkî mijar mêjî be, hindik xebat gelek rê dimeşe.

[werger: Xulamê Mîr]