The Power of Language

February 15, 2023
An absorbing account of how language wires the brain. Marian, director of Northwestern's Bilingualism and Psycholinguistics Research Lab, is an expert on the relationship between language and the human brain. In this eye-opening account, she describes the results of decades of research in accessible, engaging prose. Some of the most intriguing conclusions are related to bilingualism and multilingualism, which have been shown to delay Alzheimer's, increase the brain's gray matter, and positively impact social cognition in children. Bilingual babies can better distinguish between musical notes, suggesting that the powerful effects of multilingualism on the brain are present even in nonverbal areas. Furthermore, languages bring cultural connotations, memories, and connections. "Learning another language doesn't just give you different words or more words," writes the author. "It rewires your brain and transforms it, creating a denser tapestry of connectivity." This radical transformation means that multilinguals communicate and even vote differently depending on which language they are using, allowing them to become a somewhat different version of themselves. Memories and emotions differ across linguistic and cultural experience and have clear manifestations in bilinguals. For example, people tend to be more emotional when speaking in their native language. On the individual level, being bilingual improves creativity, executive function, and aging. Socially, politically, and psychologically, understanding how languages affect the brain is just as essential, especially in the U.S., where more than 350 languages and dialects are spoken. "Engaging with a variety of languages," writes the author, "gives us crucial abilities that the human race will need to heal burgeoning social discord and to formulate solutions to looming global problems." Thoroughly researched and carried by Marian's own experiences as a multilingual who speaks fluent Romanian, Russian, and English, the narrative is both fascinating and fluid. Full of delightful insights, this book is thoroughly researched and compulsively readable.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 6, 2023
Marian, a professor of communication sciences and disorders at Northwestern University, makes a convincing case for multilingualism in her illuminating debut. A trilingual herself, Marian grew up puzzling over linguistic peculiarities: why, for example, was “bridge” gendered “she” in German, “it” in English, and “masculine if there’s one, but feminine if there are ” in her native Romanian? Language influences how humans perceive reality, she explains—Germans are more likely to describe those feminine-gendered bridges as “pretty” than speakers of other languages, cognitive research shows—and multilingualism is beneficial as it “opens up new ways of thinking.” Multilingualism also confers various cognitive benefits: Marian’s research tracking bilinguals’ eye movements revealed they were better able to ignore irrelevant information than monolinguals, a marker of executive function, and studies have shown heightened mental flexibility among those who can speak multiple languages. Socially, multilingualism can promote cross-cultural cooperation, she writes, as appreciating “the utility and beauty of another language,” can render one “less prone to... demonizing things or people who are different.” The author also dismantles myths of a “critical period” after which it’s impossible to become fluent in a second language, and explains languages can be learned at any age. Marian’s extensive research and thoughtful analysis lend this entry weight, and the lay reader-friendly prose makes it all go down smoothly. Curious monolinguals will be inspired to expand their linguistic horizons.