Cultural diversity is incorporated into the world more and more as the days go on. With that are thousands of different languages that allow us to complete tasks of traveling, making business connections, school work, sharing our feelings, creating new inventions, and the list goes on. Being able to communicate in more than one language makes these tasks much easier to undertake. Monolinguals are at a disadvantage in today’s world compared to bilinguals in terms of communication with people of other cultures, cognitive abilities, and health due to their lack of capability to speak a language other than English.
Being bilingual comes with the most well-known advantage, the ability to communicate with people from different cultures. ¨It [bilingualism] …show more content…
“One study showed dementia occurred about four years earlier in monolinguals than bilinguals” (Source D). Dementia is an illness that is becoming more and more common and can easily be delayed by learning a second language. Alzheimer’s is another common illness known to be avoidable or delayed because of bilingualism. Bilingualism does not only help with health issues during the later stages of life. Bilinguals are also “able to show better self-control and internalize negative states like anxiety, aggression, anger, loneliness or low self-esteem less frequently” (Source B). These health issues, which can be improved by bilingualism, are very common and well-known in today’s society. Yes, there are ways to treat these illnesses, but not all of them. Alzheimer’s is irreversible and cannot be cured and dementia can only be treatable under certain conditions, so bilingualism would cause less suffering and worrying in the long run. Something as simple as knowing more than one language can make the world of a difference for one’s …show more content…
Unexpectedly and disappointingly, in 2007 only 19.73% of the U.S. population were bilingual (Source A). With wealth and a high level of education, the numbers should be much higher for the United States. In Europe, 56% of the population is bilingual (Source A). Three countries in Europe---Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Sweden---have a population in which more than 90% is bilingual (Source A). If these numbers are possible in Europe, they are possible in America. After being informed on the advantages of bilingualism, people should not need to be forced to learn a new language in school, but they should want to learn a new language to better