TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Mia Nacamulli: The benefits of a bilingual brain

Unscramble the Blue Letters

¿Hablas español? Parlez-vous français? 你会说中文吗？ If you answered, "sí," "oui," or "会" and you're watching this in English, chances are you benolg to the world's bilingual and multilingual majority. And besides having an easier time traveling or watching movies without subtitles, knowing two or more languages means that your brain may actually look and work dierlffntey than those of your monolingual friends. So what does it really mean to know a language? laugange ability is typically measured in two acitve parts, speaking and wtrniig, and two passive parts, listening and raiedng. While a belancad bilingual has near equal abilities across the baord in two languages, most bilinguals around the world know and use their lauagengs in varying ptrnoooirps. And depending on their situation and how they acquired each language, they can be classified into three general types. For example, let's take Gabriella, whose family immigrates to the US from Peru when she's two-years old. As a compound bilingual, gllabiera develops two linguistic codes simultaneously, with a single set of concepts, lrianeng both English and Spanish as she begins to process the world around her. Her teenage brother, on the other hand, might be a coordinate bilingual, working with two sets of concepts, learning English in school, while continuing to speak snaspih at home and with fnireds. Finally, Gabriella's parents are likely to be subordinate bilinguals who learn a secondary language by frnietlig it through their primary language. Because all types of bilingual people can become fluly proficient in a language regardless of accent or pronunciation, the difference may not be apparent to a casual orebvser. But recent advances in brain imaging technology have given neurolinguists a glimpse into how specific aspects of language learning afceft the bilingual brain. It's well known that the brain's left hsmepeirhe is more dominant and analytical in lgcoail processes, while the right hemisphere is more active in emotional and social ones, though this is a matter of degree, not an absolute siplt. The fact that language involves both types of functions while lateralization develops gradually with age, has lead to the critical period hypothesis. According to this theory, children learn languages more easily because the plasticity of their developing brains lets them use both hemispheres in language acquisition, while in most adults, language is lateralized to one hemisphere, usually the left. If this is true, learning a language in childhood may give you a more holistic grasp of its social and emotional ctxoetns. cvleneorsy, recent research shoewd that people who laeenrd a second language in adulthood exhibit less emotional bias and a more rational approach when confronting problems in the second language than in their ntaive one. But regardless of when you acquire additional languages, being mguiilnaltul gives your brain some raebarmlke aaavegtnds. Some of these are even visible, such as heihgr density of the grey matter that contains most of your brain's neurons and synapses, and more aictivty in certain regions when engaging a second language. The heightened workout a bilingual brain reeviecs throughout its life can also help dlaey the onset of diseases, like Alzheimer's and dementia by as much as five years. The idea of mjoar cognitive benefits to bilingualism may seem intuitive now, but it would have surprised earlier experts. Before the 1960s, bilingualism was considered a handicap that slowed a child's development by forcing them to spend too much energy ditiihinngssug between languages, a view based largely on flawed studies. And while a more recent study did show that reaction times and errors iscarene for some bilingual students in cross-language tests, it also showed that the efroft and attention needed to switch between languages triggered more activity in, and potentially strengthened, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the bairn that plays a large role in executive function, problem solving, sitcniwhg between tasks, and focusing while filtering out irrelevant information. So, while bilingualism may not necessarily make you smarter, it does make your brain more hheltay, complex and actively engaged, and even if you didn't have the good fortune of learning a second language as a child, it's never too late to do yourself a favor and make the linguistic leap from, "Hello," to, "Hola," "Bonjour" or "你好’s" because when it comes to our barins a little exercise can go a long way.

Open Cloze

¿Hablas español? Parlez-vous français? 你会说中文吗？ If you answered, "sí," "oui," or "会" and you're watching this in English, chances are you ______ to the world's bilingual and multilingual majority. And besides having an easier time traveling or watching movies without subtitles, knowing two or more languages means that your brain may actually look and work ___________ than those of your monolingual friends. So what does it really mean to know a language? ________ ability is typically measured in two ______ parts, speaking and _______, and two passive parts, listening and _______. While a ________ bilingual has near equal abilities across the _____ in two languages, most bilinguals around the world know and use their _________ in varying ___________. And depending on their situation and how they acquired each language, they can be classified into three general types. For example, let's take Gabriella, whose family immigrates to the US from Peru when she's two-years old. As a compound bilingual, _________ develops two linguistic codes simultaneously, with a single set of concepts, ________ both English and Spanish as she begins to process the world around her. Her teenage brother, on the other hand, might be a coordinate bilingual, working with two sets of concepts, learning English in school, while continuing to speak _______ at home and with _______. Finally, Gabriella's parents are likely to be subordinate bilinguals who learn a secondary language by _________ it through their primary language. Because all types of bilingual people can become _____ proficient in a language regardless of accent or pronunciation, the difference may not be apparent to a casual ________. But recent advances in brain imaging technology have given neurolinguists a glimpse into how specific aspects of language learning ______ the bilingual brain. It's well known that the brain's left __________ is more dominant and analytical in _______ processes, while the right hemisphere is more active in emotional and social ones, though this is a matter of degree, not an absolute _____. The fact that language involves both types of functions while lateralization develops gradually with age, has lead to the critical period hypothesis. According to this theory, children learn languages more easily because the plasticity of their developing brains lets them use both hemispheres in language acquisition, while in most adults, language is lateralized to one hemisphere, usually the left. If this is true, learning a language in childhood may give you a more holistic grasp of its social and emotional ________. __________, recent research ______ that people who _______ a second language in adulthood exhibit less emotional bias and a more rational approach when confronting problems in the second language than in their ______ one. But regardless of when you acquire additional languages, being ____________ gives your brain some __________ __________. Some of these are even visible, such as ______ density of the grey matter that contains most of your brain's neurons and synapses, and more ________ in certain regions when engaging a second language. The heightened workout a bilingual brain ________ throughout its life can also help _____ the onset of diseases, like Alzheimer's and dementia by as much as five years. The idea of _____ cognitive benefits to bilingualism may seem intuitive now, but it would have surprised earlier experts. Before the 1960s, bilingualism was considered a handicap that slowed a child's development by forcing them to spend too much energy ______________ between languages, a view based largely on flawed studies. And while a more recent study did show that reaction times and errors ________ for some bilingual students in cross-language tests, it also showed that the ______ and attention needed to switch between languages triggered more activity in, and potentially strengthened, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the _____ that plays a large role in executive function, problem solving, _________ between tasks, and focusing while filtering out irrelevant information. So, while bilingualism may not necessarily make you smarter, it does make your brain more _______, complex and actively engaged, and even if you didn't have the good fortune of learning a second language as a child, it's never too late to do yourself a favor and make the linguistic leap from, "Hello," to, "Hola," "Bonjour" or "你好’s" because when it comes to our ______ a little exercise can go a long way.

Solution

spanish
showed
writing
contexts
language
gabriella
remarkable
higher
healthy
brain
distinguishing
reading
activity
active
balanced
differently
switching
major
filtering
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learning
advantages
belong
logical
proportions
native
hemisphere
board
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split
conversely
languages
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learned
multilingual
observer
increase
brains
fully
affect
friends

Original Text

¿Hablas español? Parlez-vous français? 你会说中文吗？ If you answered, "sí," "oui," or "会" and you're watching this in English, chances are you belong to the world's bilingual and multilingual majority. And besides having an easier time traveling or watching movies without subtitles, knowing two or more languages means that your brain may actually look and work differently than those of your monolingual friends. So what does it really mean to know a language? Language ability is typically measured in two active parts, speaking and writing, and two passive parts, listening and reading. While a balanced bilingual has near equal abilities across the board in two languages, most bilinguals around the world know and use their languages in varying proportions. And depending on their situation and how they acquired each language, they can be classified into three general types. For example, let's take Gabriella, whose family immigrates to the US from Peru when she's two-years old. As a compound bilingual, Gabriella develops two linguistic codes simultaneously, with a single set of concepts, learning both English and Spanish as she begins to process the world around her. Her teenage brother, on the other hand, might be a coordinate bilingual, working with two sets of concepts, learning English in school, while continuing to speak Spanish at home and with friends. Finally, Gabriella's parents are likely to be subordinate bilinguals who learn a secondary language by filtering it through their primary language. Because all types of bilingual people can become fully proficient in a language regardless of accent or pronunciation, the difference may not be apparent to a casual observer. But recent advances in brain imaging technology have given neurolinguists a glimpse into how specific aspects of language learning affect the bilingual brain. It's well known that the brain's left hemisphere is more dominant and analytical in logical processes, while the right hemisphere is more active in emotional and social ones, though this is a matter of degree, not an absolute split. The fact that language involves both types of functions while lateralization develops gradually with age, has lead to the critical period hypothesis. According to this theory, children learn languages more easily because the plasticity of their developing brains lets them use both hemispheres in language acquisition, while in most adults, language is lateralized to one hemisphere, usually the left. If this is true, learning a language in childhood may give you a more holistic grasp of its social and emotional contexts. Conversely, recent research showed that people who learned a second language in adulthood exhibit less emotional bias and a more rational approach when confronting problems in the second language than in their native one. But regardless of when you acquire additional languages, being multilingual gives your brain some remarkable advantages. Some of these are even visible, such as higher density of the grey matter that contains most of your brain's neurons and synapses, and more activity in certain regions when engaging a second language. The heightened workout a bilingual brain receives throughout its life can also help delay the onset of diseases, like Alzheimer's and dementia by as much as five years. The idea of major cognitive benefits to bilingualism may seem intuitive now, but it would have surprised earlier experts. Before the 1960s, bilingualism was considered a handicap that slowed a child's development by forcing them to spend too much energy distinguishing between languages, a view based largely on flawed studies. And while a more recent study did show that reaction times and errors increase for some bilingual students in cross-language tests, it also showed that the effort and attention needed to switch between languages triggered more activity in, and potentially strengthened, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the brain that plays a large role in executive function, problem solving, switching between tasks, and focusing while filtering out irrelevant information. So, while bilingualism may not necessarily make you smarter, it does make your brain more healthy, complex and actively engaged, and even if you didn't have the good fortune of learning a second language as a child, it's never too late to do yourself a favor and make the linguistic leap from, "Hello," to, "Hola," "Bonjour" or "你好’s" because when it comes to our brains a little exercise can go a long way.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

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bilingual brain	2

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