We would also like to thank the Kurt Forrest Foundation for their generous support of this program.

Photos by Matthew Gilbertson

Thank you to Lulu Song, Maya Taliaferro, Audrey Kittredge, Alessandro Bellantuono, and Boney Poovan for their insight; Anna Rita Pergolizzi-Wentworth and Pine Street School staff for hosting us; and Kathrin Nagle from German School Manhattan for partnering with us.

🌍 In a global and interconnected world, a monolingual focus is rather ineffective for professional competence. Multilingualism is both a cognitive strength and a bridge across cultures.

Knowing multiple languages is the key to "belonging" in family settings, friend circles, new living environments.

🧩 Studies show that learning a new language, whether through digital tools or in person, supports brain health just as effectively as traditional brain-training programs.

📱 Digital language-learning programs are tailored to a learner’s native language — for example, English-learning tools differ for speakers of Japanese versus German.

🏡 Rich, reciprocal interaction — even casual conversations at home before full comprehension — provides the context the brain needs to learn.

🔤 Dyslexia and aphasia affect all the languages a person speaks equally, though how they appear depends on the complexity of the structure of each language.

💬 Bilinguals often live between languages, moving through multiple linguistic concepts and thus have a greater pool of means for expression and task solving to choose from.

👶 Learning two or more languages does not slow a child’s speech or cognitive development; it builds flexibility and deeper understanding when confronted with tasks.

Some interesting learning from the discussion:

🧠 The bilingual brain isn’t inherently different from a monolingual one — it just strengthens existing cognitive functions, such as task switching