Authors note:

I am concerned only about my organization and punctuation. For the

most part I think everything should be ok.

Griselda Oliveros
Wrtg 109
Dr. Roe
March 17, 2015
Hola, como estas? Me llamo Meanwhile, you are standing there shaking
your head and saying si, si. When the truth is, you have no idea about what is going on.
Trust me, I have been through the same thing, but it was the opposite for me because I
didnt know English. Knowing more than one language can be very helpful throughout
life, not just in one instance. Yet, some people dont take advantage of this beautiful thing
called being bilingual, and I wonder why. Is being bilingual good? Or is it even worth it
at all?
When researching to answer these questions, I first went to Google, like most of
the people in class did. Then, afterwards, I looked to sort through the isources that were
easier to understand and narrowed down my choices to best fit my topic. I really wanted
some that not only had a opinion or statement, but also had a good reasoning or proof
behind it. Also, I wanted some that had at least two different points of view on it.
Looking back on my research process, I think I could have done a better job on it.
Most of the time I just Google whatever information I need. I know that just
googling isnt a very efficient way to get sources. At the same time, Im learning to use
databases more so that I can get better sources.The process of building my infographic
was hard. Especially because I didnt really get how to sort out the information and put it
on the infographic. Once I reread the assignment and changed my subject, it became
easier to put all of the information together.

From the website called multilingualchildren.org, I learned that it is better to teach

kids from a very young age to speak a new language. Learning at such a young age can
bring many benefits to the childs life. Some of these benefits are useful in their school or
work setting in the future. Which would be any place where the child will have to speak
to people who do not speak his or her primary language yet, is equipped with another
language. The website says multilingualism has been proven to help your child develop
superior reading and writing skills. (The Pros and Cons of Raising a Multilingual Child)
Not only does being bilingual makes the child more skillful, it increases the amount of
career prospects they will have. The reason why this is a credible source is because the
Multilingual Childrens Association runs it and they make it as a guide to raising
bilingual children.
The second website I looked at was Apecsec.org. This website is credible because
they have cited information from YCIS, which is an international school that uses
bilingual education. This website talked about bilingual education. Which, in my point of
view, is very important. Being a bilingual person myself, I am always curious to see in
what ways younger children are being taught, especially when it comes to languages.
This website saddened me though, but because of what people are saying about bilingual
education. What made me sad was the fact that there is lack of expert professors and
teachers who have the ability to teach in an effective manner. (Bilingual Education Pros
and Cons) The way I see learning a new language is this: if talking and meeting new
people is important, then why not meet them halfway and at least try to understand them.
Besides this, the next article surprised me with the statistics it showed.

The inforgraphic on this website made some very interesting points. One that
really stuck out to me was a statistic on dementia. It said the mean age for the first signs
of dementia in monolingual adults is 71.4 and for bilingual adults it is 75.5. (How the
Brain Benefits from Being Bilingual Infographic)I thought wow, a whole 4.1
difference. Another fact that surprised me was one about focusing on tasks. It said
bilingual people displayed increased concentration on their assignments than their
monolingual counterparts. Out of all of the websites I researched this one fascinated me
the most, because it had a graph that showed how much more money bilingual people
made than monolingual people. From all of this research, I think I know what the answer
to my research question is. But before I answer it, I thought it would be best to also
provide not only positive things about being bilingual but also some negative.
In reality there is nothing bad with knowing or learning a second language. But
for parents who ar trying to raise a bilingual child, there maybe some things that they
wont be happy about. I am going to list the four that I found on one of the websites (The
Pros and Cons of Raising a Multilingual Child). First, speaking later, which isnt a big
deal for a child who is being taught two or more languages. The reason why they take a
little longer is because they are learning twice, or maybe even more times, the words that
a monolingual child is. Second, is mixing languages, because the child is still learning,
maybe they have not learned the word pencil yet. So they refer to what they do know,
which may be Spanish for example, and may say give me a lapiz. Lapiz in Spanish
means pencil. Until they learn the word pencil, they will most likely use lapiz
instead. Third, would be additional effort for the parents, which maybe isnt thought of as
often as we would like. Having a child who is bilingual is hard. The parents have to put in

more effort because knowing or teaching a child a second language is like an investment.
Last but not least, reading and writing. Which can help a child with their grammar in both
languages. So even if these are negative things about being bilingual there is a positive
side to it all as well.
Being bilingual is worth it. The best part is that there is even research to prove it.
Which is why Im glad I chose this as my topic. Many people may see learning a new
language as a bothersome or a waste or time. But if they really took the time to learn and
understand it, they could see what an advantage it is. Some people may never get the
chance to learn a new language. Yet, those who do have an opportunity to do so, should
go for it because the world is a big place.

Works Cited
"Bilingual Education Pros and Cons." Asia-Pacific economics blog. N.p., 7 Mar. 2014.
Web. 23 Mar. 2015. <http://apecsec.org/bilingual-education-pros-and-cons/>.
"How the Brain Benefits from Being Bilingual Infographic." bhlingual.com. beverly
hills lingual institue, 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.bhlingual.com/brain-benefits-bilingual-infographic/>.
"The Pros and Cons of Raising a Multilingual Child." multilingual children's association.
multilingual children's association, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
<http://multilingualchildren.org/getting_started/pro_con.html>.