Bilingualism at Tessa

It’s Smart to Be Bilingual!

Our Students’ Got Talent

We asked our students about their opinion on learning languages and about the different languages they speak themselves.

Webinar: The Benefits of Being Bilingual

Why, When and How to teach your child languages? Kathleen Visconti, our Head of School, takes you through the many benefits of bilingualism in her latest webinar. You can download the recording of the session at the following link.

Read More on Bilingualism

Highlighting the Benefits of Being Bilingual

by: Christine Boatman

Bilingualism makes executive functioning skills stronger. Researches show that bilingualism can increase math and reading performances.

Do we think differently in different languages?

Video by: BBC Ideas

Bilingualism Will Supercharge Your Baby’s Brain

Video by: Big Think

TED Talk: The benefits of a bilingual brain

Video by: TED Talk

The Benefits of Being Bilingual

Video by: Oh Like That!

Is Bilingualism a Superpower?

Video by: Otherwords

The Mystery of People Who Speak Dozens of Languages

by: Judith Thurman

This article from The New Yorker dives into the world of hyperpolyglots—individuals with an exceptional ability to speak multiple languages fluently. It explores their unique cognitive skills, language acquisition strategies, and the numerous cognitive advantages of being multilingual. This fascinating read uncovers the wonders of language acquisition and its profound impact on the human mind.

Bilingualism May Stave Off Dementia, Study Suggests

by: Jaya Padmanhaban

In this study from the New York Times, people who spoke two languages daily in their youth tended to score higher on memory tests later in life, the researchers found.

Raising kids bilingual can make them more attentive and efficient as adults

by: Cory Stieg

Adults who grew up speaking two different languages can shift their attention between different tasks quicker than those who pick up a second language later in life, according to a new study. This is just one of many cognitive benefits of being bilingual.

Why It’s Smart to Be Bilingual 

by: Casey Schwartz

In this Newsweek article, research suggests that high level use of more than one language greatly improves the brain’s executive function in children as young as 3 or 4 years old. The executive function includes many of the brain’s primary activities like controlling impulses and emotions, flexible thinking, developing your working memory, planning and prioritizing tasks, just to name a few. The key point is that in order for these benefits to be truly realized,both languages need to be used on a regular basis, such as a school environment.

Learning a Foreign Language

by: Marisa Cohen

Parents Magazine presents an interesting poll in which57% of parents indicated that “speaking a foreign language was the most critical skill for their child to develop for the future.” With an increasing need to speak more than one language, it is surprising that “only 15% of public elementary schools in the United States teach a foreign language.” There are numerous benefits to speaking two languages. The Journal of Experimental Child Psychology found that toddlers as young as 24 months’ old has already developed superior cognitive skills.

Why Bilinguals Are Smarter

by: Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

The Best Language for Math

By: Sue Shellenbarger

Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish use simpler number words and express math concepts more clearly than English, making it easier for small children to learn counting and arithmetic, research shows.

The language gap is drawing growing attention amid a push by psychologists and educators to build numeracy in small children—the mathematical equivalent of literacy.

by: Lisa Intrabartola

The National Institute for Early Education at the Rutgers’ Graduate School of Education has conducted many studies into the benefits of dual language immersion programs especially with regards to preschool aged children. “That period is considered the critical period where the ear is  more in tune to certain sounds. That allows them to learn language as quickly as they do,” Figueras-Daniel said. “It makes sense in pre-school is because 3- and 4-year-olds have not mastered English. They are still experimenting with grammar and the structure of language and are learning new vocabulary every day.”

Check out more articles below to learn about bilingualism and its educational benefits.

Press Articles:

  1. “Le bilinguisme précoce, rempart contre le racisme” (in French) – French Morning (March 2015)
  2. “The “R” spot in the brain of multilingual people” (in English and French) – LFNY Magazine (Fall 2014)
  3. “Les bébés bilingues connaissent la grammaire dès 7 mois” (in French) – Le Point (February 2013)
  4. “Hearing Bilingual: How Babies Sort Out Language” – New York Times (October 2011)
  5. “The Bilingual Advantage” – New York Times (May 2011)
  6. “Bilingual babies cue in to languages” – Science News  – Subscribers only (February 2011)
  7. “The linguistic Genius of babies” – Patricia Kuhl – TED Talks (Octobre 2010)
  8. “The neural advantage of speaking two languages” – Scientific American Mind (January 2010)

Books:

  1. “The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature” by Steven Spinker, 2008
  2. “The Infinite Gift: How Children Learn and Unlearn the Languages of the World” by Charles Yang, 2006

Start Your Journey With Us

Tessa International School

Office: (201) 755-5585 | Location: 720 Monroe St. Hoboken, NJ 07030