Welcome to Babbel On, our monthly roundup of inspiring, motivating and enlightening articles for language lovers.
Bookmark this to send to your boss before your annual review. Quartz writes that people who speak more than one language make the best employees because of their ability to come up with more innovative solutions and ideas. The reason for this is because of greater multicultural awareness, as well as structural differences in the bilingual brain that contribute to greater cognitive benefits, including improved concentration and working memory.
For more on why you’re a better employee now, check out this Fast Company article about how the process of learning a new language helps your brain, even if you never achieve fluency.
Your brain has a real knack for remembering things that happened a long time ago, just like that friend who never lets you forget the time you threw up at the carnival. But unlike that friend, your brain is actually doing something useful, and this is good news for language learners. Scientific American reports on a study showing that the languages we were exposed to at a very young age stay with us into adulthood. Even if we don’t actively remember these languages, this early exposure makes it easier to relearn them as adults.
“No one can tell us that multilingualism isn’t worth it. My generation is global, and our geography doesn’t have any borders.” This poem by a 7th grader about how being multilingual expands her universe is the pick-me-up you need right now. The kids are alright.
Did we forget anything in this roundup? Is there anything you’d like to see in a future edition? Write to us at magazine@babbel.com.