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Bi-/Tri-/Etc.- Lingualism

I read something a while ago that people who spoke more than one language tested as having a higher IQ.. Not sure if you can read that as being you can raise your IQ level by learning a language or not however.

I'm learning a language at the moment, have been for the past couple of years.. can't say I feel any smarter though.
 
I wish in high school I would have learned Spanish to learn it, not just get by. It is useless to take it in college for me right now. I'm trying for ASL, but there are double the students who want to take it than they have seats for.

So for now, I only speak English fluently but I know emergency and basic phrases in Spanish and ASL.
 
niuniu said:
I read something a while ago that people who spoke more than one language tested as having a higher IQ.. Not sure if you can read that as being you can raise your IQ level by learning a language or not however.

I'm learning a language at the moment, have been for the past couple of years.. can't say I feel any smarter though.
Click to expand...

Correlation does not imply causation!

I think it's probably just the fact that to learn a language, the pre-requisate, as you like, is that you have to be reasonably smart, otherwise it will be extremely difficult (to be fluent that is).
 
English is my native language and I can stumble my way through Spanish if I really need to. I know a few things in Korean but again, very basic. My travels around the world make me feel bad for only knowing English because I feel it's kind-of arrogant in a way to rely on speaking English in a foreign country.

I've found that knowing basic Spanish and French can be incredibly useful since most of the non-Asian countries were colonized by one of the big 3 countries and that the language is still spoken enough that it can make the difference in getting your point across.

I hope to bring up any kids I may have as at least bi-lingual at least.
 
King Mook Mook said:
I think it's probably just the fact that to learn a language, the pre-requisate, as you like, is that you have to be reasonably smart, otherwise it will be extremely difficult (to be fluent that is).
Click to expand...
You do not have to be smart to learn a language. Vast numbers of people in the world speak several languages. It is simply a question of application and immersion, together with a certain aptitude.
 
skunk said:
You do not have to be smart to learn a language. Vast numbers of people in the world speak several languages. It is simply a question of application and immersion, together with a certain aptitude.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, I agree, but I'm saying that the people who are more likely to learn a language are those already with high IQs. People who aren't naturally smart are obviously going to find it more difficult to learn a language then those who are smart, and due to that, it's more likely that smarter people will learn other languages then those who aren't.
 
Thread title reminded me of an old joke:

Q: If a person who speaks three languages is called trilingual, and a person who speaks two languages is called bilingual, what do you call a person who speaks only one language?


A: American.
 
I speak only good ol' American English, but I understand southern California surfer dude, east Texas hayseed, rural Oklahoma redneck, West Virginia hillbilly, east coast semi-rhotic, New Jersey douche, mid-south good-ol'-boy, and quite a bit of Spanish.
 
King Mook Mook said:
Oh yes, I agree, but I'm saying that the people who are more likely to learn a language are those already with high IQs. People who aren't naturally smart are obviously going to find it more difficult to learn a language then those who are smart, and due to that, it's more likely that smarter people will learn other languages then those who aren't.
Click to expand...
But linguistic aptitude is not related to IQ. People learn languages for a variety of reasons: economic necessity, political necessity, refugee status. None of these presuppose a higher IQ than average.
 
If you only speak one language you're a minority, that's amazing, not something I would of thought.

I am native England/English and speak/write Thai as a second language, but not yet achieved mastery.
 
Hello

I am reasonably fluent in my native language, American English. I speak Upper Midwest, Chicago, East Coast, Texan and Southern dialects.
I am also mostly fluent in British English, particularly English Upper Class and Technical, South African and a bit of Australian. There are loads of subtle nuances that Americans usually miss. (Spent years translating for various friends from Eng, SA and Aus)

I know just enough Deutsch to get in very serious trouble. :eek:

I'm fascinated by the Русский язык and particularly like the Cyrillic Alphabet.
I've just started studying it though, so no questions in russian please.

Surprisingly, my grandparents spoke very fluent Swedish but never taught my mother or me a single word. They never, ever spoke it in the house until one time relatives visited from Sweden.

I know a small amount of Mexican Spanish and am surrounded by Mexican nationals here in Sanctuary City Chicago... but I don't like the language so I don't speak it.

Oddly, I can usually differentiate European languages from each other even if I don't understand. I just "know" French from Polish from Italian from Swedish, etc... Strange.


Not really Multi-Lingual (but working on it),
Keri

PS. 1 language = Mono-Lingustic
 
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