Focus
There are a lot of things in life that make me lose focus – the Federal Flood, divorce, my mother’s death – you know the big things, but there are daily things that vy for my attention on a daily basis. I was reading an article in the NYT about how raising a child bilingual helps them develop certain areas of their brain.
There’s a system in your brain, the executive control system. It’s a general manager. Its job is to keep you focused on what is relevant, while ignoring distractions. It’s what makes it possible for you to hold two different things in your mind at one time and switch between them.
I was raised bilingual but not completely. My father spoke Spanish and I grew up in Central America and Puerto Rico speaking Spanish with my friends, and so maybe I got partial benefit. But I definitely think that life has honed that skill in me more than language – focus. You have to focus.
Meanwhile, now we know the real benefit to Tin learning Croatian.