Bilingualism: What happens in the brain?

In our increasingly global society, bilingualism – or the ability to speak two languages – is on the rise. How the brains of bilingual people differ from their monolingual counterparts is an emerging area of research. Attitudes toward bilingualism have changed significantly in the past 50 years. Gone are the days when using a second language in the home was frowned upon, labeled as confusing for children and supposedly holding back their development. Instead, the number of bilinguals has been rising steadily. Data from the United States Census Bureau show that between 2009 and 2013, around 20.7 percent of people over the age of 5 spoke a language other than English at home.

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