3 Benefits of Being Bilingual for Students

Grupo Academia Internacional has a richly diverse community comprised of families from all over the globe (Canada, South Africa, United States, China, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Netherlands,  Brazil, Belgium, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, China).

There are 10 (Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, English, Korean, Afrikaans, Mandarin, German, and French) different languages spoken among our school’s population. In our academic curriculum, our students also work on their integral development.

In previous articles, we’ve been through general information regarding the importance of choosing a bilingual school for your children, today we’re going through recent studies and what experts say about it.

A Second Language Promotes Child’s Intellectual and Academic Development

Did you know that speaking more than one language from birth through childhood can actually make a person smarter? Also, it helps our students have major global job opportunities, level up their happiness, and even build healthier personal relationships.

Why? One of the main reasons for this is that the brain is forced to work harder as it develops, strengthening a child’s prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain where the executive function resides. As a result, when young learners get older they tend to score higher on cognitive tests and possess more effective communication skills than their peers that are not bilingual.

At Grupo Academia Internacional, we strongly recommend parents to choose a bilingual school. It is essential to brain functions throughout school and beyond; it works magic on neural connections.

Bilingual Children Have a Cognitive Advantage when Learning to Read

Children begin experimenting with language early in life and although learning to talk might not directly involve reading, oral language is a key milestone for early literacy development.

It’s important to understand what we’re talking about when we say “bilingual” before we fully grasp the benefits. The definition of bilingual is a person fluent in two or more languages. From there, bilinguals can fall into two categories: simultaneous and sequential. Simultaneous bilinguals begin learning two languages before age three, and sequential bilinguals learn a second language later on. Sadly, both categories suffer from the misunderstanding that knowing two languages makes learning to read difficult, which is not true at all. We'll dive deeper into the why in the following paragraphs.

For starters, one of the key advantages of being bilingual is actually literacy acquisition, and the reason ties back to metalinguistics. Bilingual students develop metalinguistic skills at an earlier age than most other children. Linguists believe that because they’re exposed to multiple languages at a young age, they’re better equipped to pick up on word structure. This can help bilingual students develop phonological awareness skills, an essential pre-reading ability, faster than their peers.

More Languages, More Cognitive Advantages For Your Student

In high school and beyond, students that speak more than one language are equipped with many unique strengths. For example, they usually have stronger working memories and attention spans. 

Bilingual Education in Chiriquí, Panamá

In a nutshell, bilinguals go through the extensive process of unlearning, learning, and re-learning to fulfill their needs of transitioning into a second language.

At Grupo Academia Internacional we are committed to your child, our student, who deserves a well-rounded education that will be useful; not only in his or her professional career but also in his or her personal and social life. We firmly believe that primary education is the foundation of everything, so our academic programs are designed to prepare young people for the challenges of the 21st century. 

We invite you to schedule a tour and learn about our academic program.