Sometimes the news of the day is good, especially if it tells you something directly relating to you that is good. In the mid-sixties, I worked in a very well-thought-of mental hospital. Psychopharmacology had not yet grown up. Many of the psychiatrists were from Vienna, havi8ng trained with Freud. I remember being in awe of one psychiatrist who claimed he could 'smell' schizophrenia. I hoped that as I grew in the field, I, too, would learn to smell the big "S". These Viennese-born men said the brain cannot tolerate two languages and people will be driven to schizophrenia. That is when I stopped listening to them They were either all schizophrenic themselves (since they clearly spoke two languages) or (more likely) they were charlatans and knew nought of what they spoke. I was raised bilingually and I knew I was certainly not schizophrenic.
The New York Times published the results of some research that shows that bilingualism enhances brain power and makes people smarter, Yudhijit Bhattacharjee (who probably got smart just by learning to spell his own name) wrote: "Speaking two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age." For the complete article, click here.
For years I was told in school that I was not working up to my potential. Perhaps I didn't, but I was not told that I probably had ADD (it had yet to be invented). Added to my bilingualism, my mother would not tolerate a left-handed child so I was forced to be right handed which also helped my brain compensate to make me ambidextrous.. Last, I think the ability to multitask makes life fuller and faster. It must be said that I learned early in my career that not everyone above me is smarter than I and that I need to think everything out for myself rather than take anything said or read at face value. It has led me in some interesting directions away from my friends and relatives in medicine, politic s, religion, diets, and many other areas. Thinking for yourself can sometimes leave you standing alone. It took many years for me to reach a comfort being there. Knowing what you believe and don't believe can be a very gratifying place to live within yourself. There is likely that no one is without faults or making mistakes. However, knowing for yourself in what you can believe because it makes sense to you or has been proven, is helpful in lowering life's stressors.
The New York Times published the results of some research that shows that bilingualism enhances brain power and makes people smarter, Yudhijit Bhattacharjee (who probably got smart just by learning to spell his own name) wrote: "Speaking two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age." For the complete article, click here.
For years I was told in school that I was not working up to my potential. Perhaps I didn't, but I was not told that I probably had ADD (it had yet to be invented). Added to my bilingualism, my mother would not tolerate a left-handed child so I was forced to be right handed which also helped my brain compensate to make me ambidextrous.. Last, I think the ability to multitask makes life fuller and faster. It must be said that I learned early in my career that not everyone above me is smarter than I and that I need to think everything out for myself rather than take anything said or read at face value. It has led me in some interesting directions away from my friends and relatives in medicine, politic s, religion, diets, and many other areas. Thinking for yourself can sometimes leave you standing alone. It took many years for me to reach a comfort being there. Knowing what you believe and don't believe can be a very gratifying place to live within yourself. There is likely that no one is without faults or making mistakes. However, knowing for yourself in what you can believe because it makes sense to you or has been proven, is helpful in lowering life's stressors.
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