Did you know that there are more bilingual people in the world than there are monolingual people? According to the Associated Press, 66 percent of the children in the world are raised to speak two languages but only 6.3 percent of the children in the U.S. are. Bilingual education has become a hot-button political issue in the U.S. But politics aside, as Ana Flores of SpanglishBaby.com discussed, studies suggest that teaching our children to speak more than one language can provide surprising, long-lasting benefits.

The benefits of being bilingual extend far beyond simply being able to speak to people of different nationalities and opening up job/business opportunities, a language service provider being a good example. Outlined below are some out of the very many benefits of bilingualism:

1. Effortless Observation Skills
A study comparing German-Italian bilinguals and Italian monolinguals conducted at University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain found that bilinguals' brains tend to operate more efficiently with less overall brain activity in tasks relating to observation of surroundings (like driving a car).

2. What You Lack In Speed, You Make for Up In Capability
Children, after a year of learning a second language, will experience increased neural activity when exposed to an unfamiliar language compared with monolingual children. That is, their brains are effortlessly more active.

3. Offset Dementia
Many studies have found that the stimulation of the parts of the brain used when multilingual cause us to be more advanced cognitively. There are theories that this stimulation can delay dementia in the elderly. A study conducted in the University of California concluded that bilingual people are less likely to suffer from dementia or the symptoms of Alzheimer's with those who are more proficient in both languages lucky enough to delay onset further.

4. In Making Rational Decisions
The University of Chicago ran an experiment on bilinguals making decisions while thinking in their native tongue, compared with the same scenario but thinking in their additional language (all Americans who had learned Spanish in school). All participants behaved more rationally when processing information in the non-native language.

5. Less Capable Of Being Manipulated
When speaking the non-native language bilinguals are far less likely to be influenced by 'triggering' words or psychologically manipulated through semantics. This is because they view the language in a linear, formulaic fashion digesting the information and transferring it into their own language as simply as possible, where words which may be synonyms in the language being heard are considered the same in the mind of the reader.

6. Inhibitory Control
This means that bilingual people are better at selecting valuable information and filtering irrelevant content more efficiently. This is useful in many aspects of daily life and contributes to being more decisive.

7. Improved Short Term Memory
An experiment conducted on children to remember a group of words then recite them showed that the bilingual children recalled more words, and in cases of semantically linked word groups and arbitrary word groups had improved memories.

8. Less Difficulty Learning Additional Languages
As the bilingual person is more adept at noticing linguistic variation it is less difficult for them to build upon their two existing languages than it is for a monolingual individual to take that first step into a new language. Much like those first few trips to the gym are the most difficult, a bilingual person has already developed language learning 'muscles'.

9. Provision of Career Opportunities
Today, there are plenty of opportunities for bilingual people which include Customer Service Representative, Technical Support Representative, Field Interviewer, Project Manager, Field Supervisor and more. Getting this kind of job, however, does not simply depend on the linguistic knowledge, training that covers the whole course of the particular subject would also be required.

Conclusion
Being bilingual or even multilingual therefore opens up a range of career opportunities at all levels. Even if the person chooses not to use the second language, the brain functions are already in place to allow enhanced communication skills, key to most fields of employment. Improved cognitive abilities, open-mindedness and analytical skills in relationships and new situations in addition to potential health benefits are evidence that coming from a social or family environment where more than one language is spoken is an advantage not to be dismissed.