Bilingualism is pure magic. As a Spanish linguist raising three little kids in Ireland, I probably enjoy their language adventures way more than is socially acceptable.
It's a wild, beautiful ride — and not without its plot twists.
My daughter started speaking later than most kids. And when she did, it was English-only — not a single word of Spanish, no matter how much I tried. I kept wondering, "Am I doing something wrong?"
Fast-forward to her seventh summer: we traveled to Spain, she ran off with her cousins... and boom — fluent Spanish, like she had been secretly practicing all along. We were floored. (Honestly, still are.)
Now she switches effortlessly between English, Spanish, and even a bit of Irish.
Every kid writes their own story — we just get front-row seats.
It's a fascinating topic. I remember, a long time ago, reading that interpreter brains and London taxi driver brains were similar, since the taxi drivers had done the 'knowledge' and the two hemispheres could process data more or less independently (I'll have to try and find the study again now).
In the meantime, here's to another of the many benefits of multilingual minds!
Bilingualism is pure magic. As a Spanish linguist raising three little kids in Ireland, I probably enjoy their language adventures way more than is socially acceptable.
Oh wow, that sounds amazing 🤩 It must be so cool to witness their language development as they grow
It's a wild, beautiful ride — and not without its plot twists.
My daughter started speaking later than most kids. And when she did, it was English-only — not a single word of Spanish, no matter how much I tried. I kept wondering, "Am I doing something wrong?"
Fast-forward to her seventh summer: we traveled to Spain, she ran off with her cousins... and boom — fluent Spanish, like she had been secretly practicing all along. We were floored. (Honestly, still are.)
Now she switches effortlessly between English, Spanish, and even a bit of Irish.
Every kid writes their own story — we just get front-row seats.
It's a fascinating topic. I remember, a long time ago, reading that interpreter brains and London taxi driver brains were similar, since the taxi drivers had done the 'knowledge' and the two hemispheres could process data more or less independently (I'll have to try and find the study again now).
In the meantime, here's to another of the many benefits of multilingual minds!