Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

Bilingual Brain

A brain that can work in two languages is better than one that works in just one language.

Bilingual is cool. Bi-cultural is even better.

Here are 8 reasons why being bilingual is good for people.

1. Better at reasoning. If you can’t find the answer in one language, you have another option to explore.

2. Better multitasking. If it is natural from the get go to think of something from different angles, what’s the big deal of thinking about different things at the same time?

3. Better at grasping conflicting ideas. When it doesn’t make sense in either language, it really doesn’t make sense.

4. Better at reconciling conflicting ideas. If there’s a solution, it’s probably easier to find in one of two worlds than in just one world.

5. Work faster. Zoom zoom.

6. More energy efficient. Here? There? No, here. Zip zip.

7. Lose their minds later if they lose it. It takes longer to lose two things than to lose one.

8. Can yell at people in two different languages. You can also pretend not to understand things when it is convenient.

Read => 10 Advantages to a  Bilingual Brain.

“Hey, dude. You were driving really fast.”

“Bu ming bai. Wakanai, Nye ponyotna. No comprendo.”

Being bilingual is cool. Bi-cultural even more so.

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.