National Journal – KABIR CHIBBER
“A new study (paywall) suggests that children who speak multiple languages are better at understanding other people. And not only those who are fluent but those who are simply exposed to another language in their daily lives…”Early language exposure is essential to developing a formal language system but may not be sufficient for communicating effectively,” the researchers said. “To understand a speaker’s intention, one must take the speaker’s perspective. Multilingual exposure may promote effective communication by enhancing perspective-taking…For millennia, multilingual exposure has been the norm. Our study shows that such an environment may facilitate the development of perspective-taking tools that are critical for effective communication.””(more)