Benefits of Learning a Foreign Language on Cognitive Development

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - April 25th, 2019

It’s always refreshing to hear someone speak a foreign language. Whether it’s the mysteriousness of it or its unique pronunciation- speaking a foreign language truly unlocks another door into our diverse world.

Learning a foreign language can be hard, especially at an older age. Human brains stop developing around the age of 25, so it’s best to learn a new language at an earlier age. There are a ton of great benefits of teaching your child a foreign language, like increased emotional, social and cognitive development. Numerous studies show that bilingualism correlates with increased cognitive development and abilities:

• A study from Ben-Zeev showed that bilingual children showed “advanced processing of verbal material, more of a natural tendency to search for structure in perceptual situations, and more capacity to reorganize their perceptions in response to feedback”.
• A study from J. Stewart shows that “foreign language study in the early elementary years improves cognitive abilities, positively influences achievement in other disciplines, and results in higher achievement test scores in reading and math”.
• A study from L. Ricciardelli, it is shown that “students who demonstrated high proficiency in bilingualism achieved higher scores on creativity, awareness and reading achievement tests”.

LingoBus describes how learning another language “beautifully shapes your brain”, which makes multilingual children amazing problem solvers. They “can also recall things much faster and tend to have a better memory span”. Learning a language will also connect your child to a broader range of individuals, like how speaking Mandarin will connect your child with more than a billion people worldwide!

Lingobus.com is a great resource we recommend for those parents who are willing to take the extra step in making their children bilingual. Lingobus.com is an online Chinese learning platform that focuses on children’s education ages 5 through 12. They teach live classes over the internet- wherever and whenever is convenient for you and your family!

TestingMom offers multiple resources for tests that are sure to help your child develop their cognitive skills at a great pace.