EXHIBIT 12.1. Bilingual or Multilingual

Advantages Read-Aloud

Scientists and others have recently found that people get many benefits from learning English (and other languages):

Learning English can increase your income by 20 percent to 25 percent. It’s a skill

that employers want.

Learning another language ‘‘exercises’’ the brain as if it were a muscle. Because

of that increased flexibility, bilingual people are better learners, have a better

memory, and can do more things at once better than people who only speak

one language. They are also better at solving problems.

People who are bilingual can delay the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease by

an average of four years over people who only speak one language. Being

bilingual strengthens the part of the brain that gets attacked first by the disease.

Writing prompt:

What does the author say about learning another language and why it is helpful? Based on your own experience and what you’ve read and seen, do you agree that these three benefits are helpful/? It’s okay to say you agree with some, but not all, of them. It’s also okay to say that you might not know enough to agree with one or more of them. Is there any way you could use this information to help motivate you to learn English? Support your opinion with your experiences, your observations of others, and your readings.