LANGUAGES AND YOUR BRAIN

Show "The Incredible people". Bella Devyatkina. Polyglot

Bella is four years old, and already speaks six different languages, as well as her native Russian. INCROYABLE!

By the age of 17 Tim Doner could speak 20 different languages. Watch to 1 minute 40 seconds.

These videos show two exceptional examples! But, what they both have in common, is they started young!

Learning a second (third/fourth/fifth...) language is easier when we are young. This page is going to be looking at why!

But first, let's deal with this question ...

Read the document 'Why can't we all speak one language?' below, and try to answer the questions underneath.

Where did language come from, did someone just make it all up?
What would happen if a baby was brought up by people who spoke a different language to its birth parents?
Why do some languages die out?
How could you 'make' everybody 'just speak English'?

South Africa's deadly riots that started in a classroom

In 1976, the apartheid government in South Africa introduced Afrikaans as the first language of Soweto schools.
In response, students living in Soweto took to the streets to protest at the changes.
The government met the protestors with brutal force, with the ensuing violence shocking the world.

Watch the two videos about how learning languages is good for your brain development and health.