BILINGUALS VS. MONOLINGUALS: BENEFITS OF LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Most individuals have the capacity and facility to learn more than one language. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, bilingualism is the ability to speak and frequently use two languages. Research has shown that bilingualism gives its carriers much more than two languages. Generally bilinguals are effective communicators in comparison with monolinguals, who find it rather difficult to transmit their ideas and points of view to others speaking a different language. People exposed to various languages become more aware of different cultures; Gumperz (1971) also mentions that bilingual people usually use their own idioms for in-group communication and the common language for their interaction and communication with outsiders. Moreover, speakers of different languages tend to be better than monolinguals at problem-solving, creativity and most of the times find it easier to learn other languages.