0_Wizard
I find it cool that more people in the world are multilingual than monolingual.
It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population.
chosen_Multilingualism_0
Multilingualism
chosen_topic_0_Multilingualism
Monolingualism
Monoglottism (Greek μόνοσ "monos", "alone, solitary", + γλώττα "glotta", "tongue, language") or, more commonly, monolingualism or unilingualism, is the condition of being able to speak only a single language, as opposed to multilingualism. In a different context, "unilingualism" may refer to a language policy which enforces an official or national language over others. Being monolingual or unilingual is also said of a text, dictionary, or conversation written or conducted in only one language, and of an entity in which a single language is either used or officially recognized (in particular when being compared with bilingual or multilingual entities or in the presence of individuals speaking different languages).
Neuroscience of multilingualism
Various aspects of multilingualism have been studied in the field of neurology. These include the representation of different language systems in the brain, the effects of multilingualism on the brain's structural plasticity, aphasia in multilingual individuals, and bimodal bilinguals (people who can speak one sign language and one oral language). Neurological studies of multilingualism are carried out with functional neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and through observation of people who have suffered brain damage. The brain contains areas that are specialized to deal with language, located in the perisylvian cortex of the left hemisphere.
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization and cultural openness. Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages is becoming increasingly frequent, thereby promoting a need to acquire additional languages.
Francization of Brussels
The Francization (or Francisation) of Brussels (, ) refers to the transformation of Brussels, Belgium, from a majority Dutch-speaking city to one that is bilingual or even multilingual, with French as both the majority language and lingua franca. Initially, the dominant aspect of this transition was the shift from Dutch to French among local Flemings in Brussels. This shift occurred over one or more generations, mirroring the advance of French elsewhere as a prestige language; subsequently, the dominance of French in Brussels has been further consolidated through internal migration of Francophone Walloons into the national capital, as well as by the immigration of non-Belgians, who either already spoke French or adopted it on arrival.
Cognitive advantages of bilingualism
A bilingual person can traditionally be defined as an individual who uses (understands and produces) two (or more) languages on a regular basis. A bilingual person's initial exposure to both languages may have started in early childhood, e.g. before age 3, but exposure may also begin later in life. While some people assume that bilinguals must be equally proficient in their languages, perfectly equal proficiency is rarely attested, and proficiency typically varies by domain. For example, a bilingual person may have greater proficiency for work-related terms in one language, and family-related terms in another language.
Intercultural bilingual education
Intercultural Bilingual Education "(Educación bilingüe intercultural)" is a language-planning model employed throughout Latin America in public education, and it arose as a political movement asserting space for indigenous languages and culture in the education system. IBE is designed to address the educational needs of indigenous communities, and consists of various bilingual curriculum designs. Since the late 20th century, IBE has become an important, more or less successful instrument of governmental language planning in several Latin American countries. These include bilingual education in Mayan languages in Guatemala, and , and Mayan in Mexico.
Simultaneous bilingualism
Simultaneous bilingualism is a form of bilingualism that takes place when a child becomes bilingual by learning two languages from birth. According to Annick De Houwer, in an article in "The Handbook of Child Language", simultaneous bilingualism takes place in "children who are regularly addressed in two spoken languages from before the age of two and who continue to be regularly addressed in those languages up until the final stages" of language development. Both languages are acquired as first languages. This is in contrast to sequential bilingualism, in which the second language is learned not as a native language but a foreign language.