(单词翻译:单击)
Charlemagne once said, "To have another language is to possess another soul." Another soul?
查理曼大帝曾说，“掌握了另一门语言就拥有了第二个灵魂。”另一个灵魂？
Somehow this celebration of learning second languages was not always the case;
只是这种对学习第二种语言的赞扬却并不是真的；
it was once more recently thought that learning a second language was a sign of dual personality disorder or could onset schizophrenia and other disorders.
近期曾有认为学习第二种语言是双重人格或精神病分裂和其他紊乱症发病的迹象。
This was thought to be true because many who were bilingual had smaller vocabularies and slower access to sentence structure.
过去人们认为这是真的，因为许多精通双语的人词汇量较小且对句子结构的学习比较慢。
However, in today's day and age the cons of knowing more than one language are far outweighed by the pros.
然而，如今习得二外绝对是利大于弊。
No.1: Delaying Dementia.
1. 延缓痴呆。
While more research is needed for data, it has been shown that being bilingual slows dementia by five years. There's no downside there!
虽然还需要进行更多的研究，但已经证明会双语能够将痴呆延缓5年。而且还没副作用！
No.2: Better Listening.
2. 更好的听觉能力。
Listening skills are heightened in those who are bilingual.
会双语的人听力技能得以提高。
Once someone speaks more than one language, they can hear different sounds and tones and recognize them, thus creating a subconscious analytical mindset.
一旦某人说不止一种语言，他们就能够听辨不同的声音和语调，因此在潜意识里创造了分析思维能力。
Babies who grow up in bilingual households can distinguish and differentiate languages they've never even heard before
在双语家庭里长大的孩子能够辨别区分他们从未听过的语言。
No.3: Better Memory Recall.
3. 更好的记忆力。
Those same babies who grew up in bilingual households also show a stronger memory recall.
成长于双语家庭的孩子也有更强的记忆力。
Their memories were also recalled with more clarity and accuracy--this leads to faster learning, especially in math
他们的记忆回想更加清晰准确—这就产生了更快的学习能力，特别是在数学
and a better recollection of faces and names which allows creating stronger relationships at a much quicker rate.
以及更好的记忆面孔和名字的能力，因此能够更快的建立强大的关系。
No.4: Multitasking.
4. 多重任务处理能力。
Despite the fact that multitasking is impossible as our brains are only capable of tackling one thing at a time.
虽然事实上多重任务处理是不可能的，因为我们的大脑一次只能解决一件事，
Rapid task changes are vastly improved by being bilingual, because being bilingual requires cognitive flexibility;
快速任务变化由于拥有双语能力而得到改善，因为会双语要求认知灵活性；
allowing the speaker to be able to shift from one task to the next much quicker and with more ease than those who only speak one language.
这就让说双语的人比只说一种语言的人能够更加快速且轻易的从一个任务切换至下一个任务。
No.5: Sharper Focus.
5. 敏锐的专注力。
Bilingual people also have both languages activated in their brains at the same time,
会双语的人同样需要在大脑中同时启动这两种语言，
monitoring which is appropriate for which given situation, which can improve attention and focus.
监控哪一种更适合当下的情形，这就能够提高他们的注意力和专注力。
Learning another language can also shed new perspectives on different topics:
学习另一种语言同样能够对不同话题提出新观点：
Dancy Susilo conducted a study in June 2015 that showed that those who are bilingual had higher abilities to process information and their self perception was different.
Dancy Susilo于2015年6月进行的一项研究表明会双语的人处理信息能力更高且他们的自体感受也不同。
Being bilingual has lots of benefits. So why not go and learn a new language? Do you already know one?
会双语有很多益处，所以为什么不去学习一门新语言呢？还是你已经会双语了？
Don't forget to subscribe for more language-based facts and leave a comment with your bilingual thoughts below.
不要忘记订阅频道了解更多基于语言的真相，在下方留下关于双语习得的想法。
