7 Benefits of Becoming a Badass Bilingual

7 Benefits of Becoming a Badass Bilingual Armed and fabulous.Bilingual people hold the big guns in this world.Being fluent in a second language gives us a huge advantage when it comes to communication, travel, work, love and raw brain power.Theres nothing that being bilingual doesnt make better. Research Concludes: Bilingual People Are Badass  The research is definitely conclusive. All kinds of studies have shown how positively being bilingual can affect the human brain.If youre on the internet looking up the benefits of bilingualism, then I bet youve already seen tons of headlines proclaiming that the bilingual brain is a lean, mean, information processing machine.It is.Bilinguals have shown enhanced creativity, better flexibility and multitasking capabilities,  boosted problem solving skills and can even stave off Alzheimers and dementia.The Process of Becoming BilingualYou may be wondering, Does it matter if Im not bilingual yet? Will I still get some awesome advantages after learning my target language? The answers to those questions are no and yes, respectively.Sure, youre right about there being different types of bilinguals. There are successive bilinguals, like me (and possibly you), who acquired a second language after fully developing our native language. Then there are  simultaneous bilinguals, you know, those jealousy-inspiring kids  with the enormous gift of growing up bilingual.Neither way is worse. Actually, each process has its own unique benefits for the language learner. For instance, one informative study showed us  that kids who grew up being naturally bilingual are better with convergent thinking,  and later-in-life bilinguals are better with divergent thinking. The former (convergent thinking) means that your brain is better at giving the one, right answer, and the latter means your brain is better at producing a diversity of possible correct answers.Both thought processes underlie improved creativity, so nobody is worse off based on when  they became bilingual.No matter when, h ow or why you start learning, youre going to be equally badass.Feeling pumped to make time for language learning? Then lets take a look at all the great benefits bilinguals get to experience.7 Benefits of Becoming a Badass Bilingual1. When you speak two languages, you actually speak three.Speaking with other bilinguals who know your particular language pair is a special treat. Youll have the luxury of mixing up languages  in whichever manner best expresses your thoughts and feelings. You may end up feeling like theyre the best friends you ever hadâ€"who else could possibly understand you so well?The only catch is that you may soon feel your proficiency in each  individual  language slipping away. For instance, after speaking Spanglish so long with my friends, coworkers and boyfriend in Ecuador, I soon found that I was losing my command of Spanish and English when I had to speak just one.Its like if a monolingual person were forced to not use a huge percentage of their stored vocabul ary. Its hard, man!In the end, though, our ability to switch back and forth between languages grants us a huge boost in mental flexibility and improves our ability to multitask. So it isnt all that bad, after all.2.  Language broadens your perspective through  linguistic relativity.Language helps you understand the world. Any bilingual will know that learning a language isnt just about learning words and grammar. You need to gain knowledge of the society and culture behind that language to achieve any degree of fluency.And thats because different languages  arent  simply different sets of words to express the same ideas.Nope.Theyre entirely different outlooks on the world.Linguistic relativity  is the concept that language dramatically shapes the way we think, perceive and interact with things around us. That means speaking a different language may actively alter your mindset and thoughts. Its a big deal in the psychological and language learning communities, and its certainly up fo r debate.Whether or not this is an actual, psychological process is one thingâ€"most bilinguals can tell you that there is a profound spiritual and emotional element to being bilingual. It may lead you to develop a love of another language and culture, to fall in love with someone or to communicate with someone totally different from you and hear their thoughts on life and important issues.Allow this to open you up to the world, broaden your horizons and bring you closer to people of all races and nationalities. The more languages we all learn, the closer well come to being citizens of the world  rather than citizens of our own specific chunks of Earth.3. You get to really appreciate  bilingual content.This is probably the most fun perk to being bilingual, and you dont even realize it until it happens to you.People who speak Spanish and English can understand every last word of songs by Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Pitbull and other internationally-successful Latin pop stars. And than k your lucky stars: Youll get to watch the masterpiece series Breaking Bad without missing a single precious word.Weeds, another series about the international drug industryâ€"more comedic and less artful than Breaking Badâ€"also gives you some quality Spanglish time. Plus, youll get a kick out of seeing the main character, Nancy, try  to toss out a few terribly-pronounced Spanish words to communicate with her  Mexican  criminal pals.French and German speakers can zip through multilingual Inglorious Basterds scenes  without ever having to glance at the subtitles. Even though Shoshanna doesnt understand the German being spoken, you can. Bravo!Japanese and English speakers hold claim to some  freaking mind-blowing Kill Bill scenes  and the adorably awkward scenes of culture shock in Lost in Translation.Now, those are  just a few examples. Bilinguals of any language pair will likely be able to find  some  great content that features both of their languages.4. Raise bilingual children.O nce you know multiple languages, teaching your children both will be a snapâ€"and theyll be lifelong bilinguals. Youll have given some other human being the gift of being a badass bilingual.Oh, and aside from that, theyll gain all kinds of great development and learning-related benefits.5. Youll think before you talk.You think more carefully about the words you use and what you express when speaking a non-native language. It forces you to think more and crank all the words through the logical gears in your brain.This is a godsend for bilingual couples. Before I ever saw the results of scientific research, I already knew that this was a thing.I noticed for the longest time that Id developed a tendency to switch to Spanish when discussing a problem with my boyfriend (whos perfectly fluent in English). I never really considered the reason why, but it makes complete senseâ€"speaking in an acquired language helps you think more logically, process information better and speak more evenly.  6. Become a mega problem solver.All bilinguals have gone through some moments of serious linguistic problem solving.Think about the instances when youve had to pause while speaking your weaker language. Even if youre not bilingual yet and only know a little of your target language, youll know what Im talking about here.You know what you want to say, but not in the language youre currently speaking. Its either on the tip of your tongue or totally eluding you while in the middle of a conversation. You cant move forward without the word, so you have to snap into problem solving mode.This often works in one of two ways: (1) You provide clues for your conversation partner so they can help you remember what that thing is called, or (2) you say f%$k it and decide to continue by dancing around the word with similes, roundabout explanations and hand gestures.On top of that, you generally are required to be creative (often with limited language and mental roadblocks) and to consider differe nt linguistic and cultural nuances while communicating in new languages.Bilinguals have demonstrated to scientists, time and time again, that  they excel in critical thinking and have special cognitive advantages when it comes to problem solving.  Every time you stumble over words and phrasing, remind yourself that youre training your brain and developing some serious skills with real-life applications.7. Break the ice.Dude, people respect the fact that youre bilingual. Its a huge ice breaker which gives you pleasant things to talk about, impresses others and helps strangers to gain interest in you personally. Monolingual people (and polyglots who dont speak one of your languages) may be curious to hear how words in one of your languages  sound.If youve put in a lot of effort to learn a new language and are interacting with native speakers, theyre going to respect and appreciate this more than you know. For those of you planning to work internationally, the more fluent you are in yo ur host countrys native language, the better your work will flow. People are more willing to collaborate with someone whos gone the extra mile to cross cultural and linguistic boundaries.If youre originally from the United States, youre going to blow peoples minds. Youre going to destroy  long-held stereotypes of stubborn, monolingual Americans who refuse to learn Mexican and want foreigners  to speak American in their countryâ€"or who simply dont care about the rest of the world.I know, you want to hide under a rock and die when youre sitting around a table with 12 childhood friends and somebody challenges you with, Oh my gosh! Say something in Mandarin Chinese! Rather, you should embrace this as part of your bilingual life and learn to love the positive reactions to your awesome skills.   So if you werent already excited to become bilingual, you now have loads of motivation to push  you towards your goal. Put it to good use, and get yourself a step closer to fluency today! And O ne More ThingTo become bilingual, youll love using FluentU. FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that natives  speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse Screen.FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.Interactive transcript for Carlos Baute song.You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs learn mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. I t uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.Start using FluentU on the website  with your computer or tablet  or, better yet,  download the FluentU app from  the  iTunes  or  Google Play  store.