Bilingual Benefits
Feb. 21st, 2023 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith.. include delaying Alzheimer's disease, and probably similar forms of cognitive decline. This effect far outstrips the latest drug approved for that purpose.
1) Given a choice between a free treatment that requires a lot of work, and an expensive drug, I suspect that people who can obtain the drug will prefer it. But the free option remains available to everyone.
2) Since proficiency is what matters, a great improvement to public health could be made by teaching all children a second language from birth or at least preschool, when it is possible to learn with native fluency. I doubt that America has any interest in doing so. But any parent could arrange it for their own kids, especially if there is a history of cognitive illness in the family.
1) Given a choice between a free treatment that requires a lot of work, and an expensive drug, I suspect that people who can obtain the drug will prefer it. But the free option remains available to everyone.
2) Since proficiency is what matters, a great improvement to public health could be made by teaching all children a second language from birth or at least preschool, when it is possible to learn with native fluency. I doubt that America has any interest in doing so. But any parent could arrange it for their own kids, especially if there is a history of cognitive illness in the family.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-02-22 10:18 am (UTC)