5 ms·

> But so far no one has seen a disadvantage either. Right? No, researchers have found disadvantages to bilingualism. Bilinguals tend to know fewer words in th

• mitchtbaum 11y ago
  So what? Monolinguals have less data to process. Slower processing is a natural result of having more code to run. Multilinguals could simply practice quick retrieval if they need to optimize for such a specific environment. I will gladly trade needing to add that practice, if I would ever find myself with an evolutionary pressure to act quickly and monolingually in such an odd environment as that test, in favor of having multiple analytical frameworks and communication means, which I find extremely well suited for this complex world I find myself in today. For vocabulary size, I would greatly appreciate any interesting correlations. By itself, it seems like a measure without any use, because number of words and depth of understanding seem unrelated, imho.. Number of concepts and number of connections between concepts... now that seems interesting.. something which multiple languages would actually help :)
  • patorjk 11y ago
    __cato is just pointing out that there are disadvantages, since the comment he's responding to isn't aware of any. In fact, before their comment, I wasn't aware there were disadvantages, all I'd heard is that there were advantages to being bilingual. You many think these are small things, but they're interesting and they're backed up by studies.
    • mitchtbaum 11y ago
      You guys both make good points, and I appreciate you standing up for this new angle. It makes for a fuller picture of our neurological anatomy and psychological processes. As our minds grow to handle more centrally important use cases, like cross-cultural communication and more in-depth, language-aided analysis, let alone clear communication, we need to also intelligently engineer appropriate optimizations to handle inherent slow downs. This seems like good places to pick up some useful approaches: * http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RulesOfOptimization http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RulesOfOptimization * http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ProfileBeforeOptimizing http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ProfileBeforeOptimizing * http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?OptimizationPattern http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?OptimizationPattern
  • Chris2048 11y ago
    >Monolinguals have less data to process and Bilingual data is highly repetitive. And not every concept is useful - what use are german gendered pronouns? Add in that fact that as a tool for communication, you won't be able to use you full vocabulary everywhere. In addition, seems like there is an obvious difficulty wrt incompatible grammars. There's nothing preventing you expanding you current vocabulary in your native language (jargon) - why do you need to learn a new language?
    • mitchtbaum 11y ago
      > Bilingual data is highly repetitive That depends on which pairs someone has and which concepts they (re/dis/_cross_)connect to understand something. For instance, Spanish and Portuguese (a common combo, both stemming from Latin) and Hebrew and Arabic (another common combo, both stemming from Semitic languages) provide less cultural variation and thus conceptual synergies than when someone cross-pollinates them. > (2) And not every concept is useful - (1) what use [is] [grammatical gender]? (1) It gives a window into how each culture understands a given field and Universe overall, eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun_classes#Common_criteria_for_noun_classes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun_classes#Common_criteria_f... . (2) It may get too cold or too hot one day, so changing your houses' windows' degree of openness may help you with your current homeostatic needs... welding them into that place, even if that change makes a huge difference, probably wouldn't work out long term.. A simple stick of a suitable height, or none at all, or perhaps a counter balancing weight, will work much better. > Add in that fact that as a tool for communication, you won't be able to use you full vocabulary everywhere. Perhaps it would make sense to prune our English vocabulary. After all, less is more, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If you regularly add new tools to perform previously unforeseen functions in software you use\write, then perhaps your optimizations for these specific features comes at a cost of generally misunderstanding software and information structures\informatic processes. It doesn't necessarily take more to do more. > In addition, seems like there is an obvious difficulty wrt incompatible grammars. Luckily we have two hands, so we can easily hold on to two branches (as long as we have them within reach). Even if one bears one kind of fruit and another a different one, simply remember how to swing back and forth and you can get fat and happy with your varied sets of friends and fruits. :D > There's nothing preventing you expanding you current vocabulary in your native language (jargon) - why do you need to learn a new language? C'est si bon Lovers say that in France ... http://artists.letssingit.com/louis-armstrong-lyrics-cest-si-bon-fv23s8d http://artists.letssingit.com/louis-armstrong-lyrics-cest-si...