Nowadays the different communities existing in the world come closer and closer, even though there is a concept of language variousness, standing as a barrier to communication freedom. To close this gap, people from all around the world are coming up with different ideas as to how they can take part and help in the advanced linguistic knowledge consumption.
One of these bright ideas is including bilingual books in children’s literature. They now have access to different books in different languages, that not only develop the core roots of the language, but also teach them about the given language’s country, culture, people, and so on.
The Importance of Bilingual Books
Some bilingual books are designed to be educational not only from the aspect of learning the given language but also from other aspects relating to that country and the origin of the language.
Bilingual books help children stimulate cognitive growth and curiosity toward different languages and cultures. To help children develop linguistic skills, these books are accustomed to the sounds, rhymes, and the main structures of the second, or third language.
Thus we can say, that bilingual books are a ticket to two or more worlds, that allow children, and adults to break down language barriers and gain new points of view and world recognition.
The Power of Children’s Bilingual Books
Bilingual books that incorporate more than one language are designed to enrich and widen the child’s imagination and fast analyzing skills, they develop the multifunctioning of the brain through different languages. Moreover, in recent years plenty of children’s books in Spanish and English have gained popularity, which promotes understanding and cultural exchange of these rich nations.
Considering these books are designed for children, they have vivid illustrations that help the child keep the attention and put more concentration into the study. This is a great opportunity to help children recognize different interesting facts and traditions that can spike their interest to explore and learn more.
Although learning new things doesn’t require a certain age, it is known that children’s brain takes information quickly. Therefore starting from an early age can benefit them in multiple aspects, and even though toddlers might not understand each of the words, the repetitive sound of those words can become an origin to the development of multiple other skills. Aside from toddlers, learning the language at an early age can help in many cases, and here are some of them.
● Good memory: Learning new languages can enhance the quality of memory, it is a “mental workout” that can help the brain improve its functionality in various other aspects.
● Delay in cognitive decline: Bilingualism stretches the capacity of the brain, making it more agile. This quality is believed to prevent the development of diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
● Cognitive benefits: Having a bilingual brain can promote different cognitive skills. In various cases, bilingual people even outperform monolinguals in tasks related to attention, multitasking, and even problem-solving.
● Improved First Language Skills: Surprisingly, but logically the knowledge of other languages enhances the knowledge of the first language. The key is understanding the second or third language’s grammar and nuances sometimes gives people new perspectives on their native language, and how some aspects of it work.
● Flexible thinking: Bilingualism is another skill that enhances the brain’s way of thinking. This gives the person an opportunity to look at matters from various viewpoints and create diverse solutions. This skill is being developed by the access to different linguistic structures and cultural norms.
● Lifelong learning: In many cases, bilingual people continue expanding their knowledge of languages, which is an opportunity to widen the horizons of imagination and worldview.
Language acquisition in early ages
Introducing different languages to toddlers through bilingual books has some other benefits as well. For example, when the child starts learning a given language in school, they will already have some basic knowledge of it, which will contribute to the learning process.
As mentioned above, some bilingual books can contain cultural, historical, and traditional narratives of the country. Bilingualism helps develop mental juggling or shifting between languages, which is a mental exercise that helps the brain gain more flexibility. The ability to communicate in more than one language is an advantage the majority of people strive to possess, and considering children learn faster than adults, it can work to their benefit to get the roots of the second language before starting school. Keeping this in mind, the process can be done through various best bilingual children’s books, that are specifically created to help children observe the knowledge as smoothly as possible.
