Did you know?

Here are snippets of information that we thought might be pertinent to you, the parent or educator interested in bilingual education.

“…it has been shown that, compared to their monolingual peers, bilingual children are better able to focus their attention on relevant information and ignore irrelevant distractions.” (Canadian Council of Learning, 2008)

“According to the 2001 Canadian census, people who speak both official languages had a median income ($24,974) that was nearly 10% higher than that of those who speak English only ($22,987) and 40% higher than that of those who speak French only ($17,659).” (Canadian Council of Learning, 2008)

For the complete article, click here.
Canadian Council on Learning. 2008. Do you speak English? Les avantages du bilinguisme au Canada. http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/LessonsInLearning/LinL20081016Bilingualism.htm?Language=EN

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"The positives of being a bilingual person far outweigh the negatives.  Bilingualism may even delay or slow Alzheimer's disease and the cognitive decline of old age.  Persons who are bilingual have both language systems running all the time, even when they are in a monolingual environment.  This activity increases function and performance in a variety of brain regions leading to better overall cognitive skills.  The only negative aspect to being bilingual seems to be that it slows down your language speed scores and can lead to more "tip-of-the-tongue" moments.  A small price to pay."

Price, M. (2010).  "Speaking more than one language may have cognitive trade-off".  Monitor of Psychology, Vol 41(4), pg. 13. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/04/language.aspx