Whether you’re embarking on, continuing, or re-starting your bilingual language learning journey, this podcast will help you frame your “why.” Join your guide Emily (Spanish teacher and linguistics PhD) as she shares 6 real-life benefits to being bilingual! Did you know that globally speaking, being bilingual is actually the norm – not the exception? Listen to learn more about the real-life benefits of being bilingual!
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Wondering what languages were used in today’s episode? ‘Kedu’ and ‘nagboo’ are the words for ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in Igbo (a language native to eastern Nigeria). ‘Hola’ and ‘hasta la próxima’ are ‘hello’ and ‘until next time’ in Spanish (spoken natively and as a national language in ~20 countries worldwide). ‘시간낭비 하지말고’ (she-gan-NANG-bee ha-ji-MAL-go) is a Korean phrase that roughly translates to ‘and without further ado,’ but literally translates as ‘time waste but now…’ Click to check out our Igbo, Spanish, and Korean courses!
Emily Sabo, PhD (University of Michigan) is a linguist at Mango Languages. Having studied 7 languages and lived in various countries abroad, she sees multilingualism -- and the cultural diversity that accompanies it -- as the coolest of superpowers. Complementary to her work at Mango, Emily is a Lecturer of Spanish at the University of Tennessee, a Producer of the “We Are What We Speak’ docu-series, and get this...a storytelling standup comedian!
References and suggested readings:
To read more about the fundamentals of bilingualism, check out this book: Grosjean, F. (1982). Life with two languages: An introduction to bilingualism. Harvard University Press.
To learn more about the research on Bilingual Advantage, check out this article: Grant, A., Dennis, N. A., & Li, P. (2014). Cognitive control, cognitive reserve, and memory in the aging bilingual brain. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 1401.
To watch one of the best linguistics TED talks, search for a video by Dr. Lera Boroditsky (Professor, UCSD) on how the languages you speak can shape the ways you think.