Bilingualism has been shown in studies to delay cognitive decay [1]. Nearly everyone outside of US/UK in the younger generation speaks at least two languages pretty well, while the older ones often don't.
> Nearly everyone outside of US/UK in the younger generation speaks at least two languages pretty well, while the older ones often don't.
Interestingly, the opposite seems to have been happening in Malaysia. The older generation tend to be able to speak a ton of languages (Malay, English, Chinese, Cantonese, Hokkien, maybe more), my generation has mostly settled on just English. I have gone out of my way to learn Japanese but even then, I can only understand 4 languages and speak 2 vs the 5 languages my parents/grandparents are essentially native speakers of.
Interestingly, the opposite seems to have been happening in Malaysia. The older generation tend to be able to speak a ton of languages (Malay, English, Chinese, Cantonese, Hokkien, maybe more), my generation has mostly settled on just English. I have gone out of my way to learn Japanese but even then, I can only understand 4 languages and speak 2 vs the 5 languages my parents/grandparents are essentially native speakers of.