Why do bilingual speakers find switching languages so easy? Neuroscience has the answer

Nov 10, 2021

A number of 'goodbye' messages in multiple languages.

Bilinguals often mix their two languages together as they converse with one another. Image: Unsplash/ Jacquelin Brandwayn

James Devitt

Deputy Director of Media Relations , New York University

Our Impact

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Education is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Education

a chart showing the prevalence of bilingualism across europe

Two thirds of Europeans claim to be bilingual. Image: Statista

Have you read?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

More on Education
See all

1:59

Want to boost school graduation rates? Public spending is key

1:36

Air pollution affects how children score on exams

The Booker Prize 2023 has a winner. Here's a summary of the novel and a round-up of the runners-up

Ian Shine

November 27, 2023

Interdisciplinary research is key to scientific discovery. So why are universities reluctant to cross disciplines?

Phil Baty

November 21, 2023

Can AI transform learning for the world's most marginalized children?

Frank van Cappelle

October 17, 2023

This is how Lego braille bricks are helping vision-impaired children to read, learn and play

Emma Charlton

September 28, 2023