“Bilingualism is good for the brain,” Ghent researcher concludes

Bilingualism trains the brain and leads to cognitive advantages among children, adults and patients with neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. That’s the conclusion of researcher Evy Woumans of Ghent University in her PhD thesis.

Two years ago, Woumans selected 54 children with a similar intelligence level and language development, from the second year of different pre-schools in Wallonia. In the third year of pre-school, half the children followed bilingual immersion education – in which certain classes are given in another language – and the other half were taught in a single language.

At the end of that year, the intellectual skills of the monolingual toddlers was compared with those from the bilingual immersion education. Those who followed immersion education scored better on an intelligence test than children who followed monolingual education.

Another study by Woumans, carried out with the university hospitals of Ghent and Brussels, showed that bilingualism can delay the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s by four to five years. Two other studies showed that healthy bilingual adults score better on cognitive tests than their monolingual peers. Bilingual people who often work with language, such as interpreters, have the biggest advantages.