Contrary to previous belief that learning two languages at once would hurt kids when it comes to language processing, learning a second language is now something stressed at a young age and being bilingual is seen as a benefit. Research shows that bilinguals have greater levels of mental flexibility than those who speak only one language. This is due to the fact that fluent bilinguals have both languages active at all times, regardless of whether they’re consciously using both, and they are able to control the parallel activity of both languages and select which one they want to use without actually consciously thinking about it. Hopefully this new research will decrease the age at which students in the United States learn a second language and lead to an increase in bilingualism.

The original article can be found here: http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/bilingualism-mental-flexibility/story?id=20247781