Science says teaching your kids this one skill will make them more successful

If you're a parent, you instinctively want what's best for your
children.
So, what's one way to give your children a leg up — a single
skill that single-handedly increases their chances at success?
Science says: Encourage them to learn another language.
Increased intelligence
In recent years, scientists and researchers have made
breakthroughs in their understanding of bilingualism. In the
past, experts thought that learning a second language was an
"interference" that hindered children's academic and
intellectual development. But in a New York Times article
entitled "Why Bilinguals Are Smarter," Yudhijit
Bhattacharjee explains why this interference is actually a
good thing:
"They were not wrong about the interference: there is
ample evidence that in a bilingual's brain both language
systems are active even when he is using only one
language, thus creating situations in which one system
obstructs the other. But this interference, researchers are
finding out, isn't so much a handicap as a blessing in
disguise. It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict,
giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive
muscles."
Bhattacharjee cites research that indicates that "the bilingual
experience" improves children's abilities to perform other
mentally demanding tasks, such as plan, solve problems, and
stay focused.
But as a parent, you're probably looking for more than just
"smart" for your kids. How many of us want genius children
who simply can't relate to others? Can learning another
language help children develop better social skills, too?
Here's where it gets interesting.
Good for social skills, too
Katherine Kinzler, an associate professor of psychology and
human development at Cornell University, published a new
piece for the New York Times this weekend entitled, "The
Superior Social Skills of Bilinguals." Recent research from
Kinzler's developmental psychology lab indicates that
"multilingual exposure improves not only children's cognitive
skills but also their social abilities."
For example, one study illustrates how multilingual children
demonstrate better general communication skills than
monolingual children:
"We took a group of children in the United States, ages
4 to 6, from different linguistic backgrounds, and
presented them with a situation in which they had to
consider someone else's perspective to understand her
meaning. For example, an adult said to the child: "Ooh,
a small car! Can you move the small car for me?"
Children could see three cars — small, medium and
large — but were in position to observe that the adult
could not see the smallest car. Since the adult could see
only the medium and large cars, when she said "small"
car, she must be referring to the child's "medium."
We found that bilingual children were better than
monolingual children at this task. If you think about it,
this makes intuitive sense. Interpreting someone's
utterance often requires attending not just to its content,
but also to the surrounding context. What does a
speaker know or not know? What did she intend to
convey? Children in multilingual environments have
social experiences that provide routine practice in
considering the perspectives of others: They have to
think about who speaks which language to whom, who
understands which content, and the times and places in
which different languages are spoken."
In essence, children who speak other languages are more in
tune with others.
What about children who speak only one language, but are
regularly exposed to another?
Kinzler's lab found that "children who were effectively
monolingual yet regularly exposed to another language — for
example, those who had grandparents who spoke another
language — were just as talented as the bilingual children at
this task." (Italics mine.) However, Kinsey reports that the
"exposure" children didn't perform better than other
monolinguals on cognitive tasks.
In other words, simply putting your children in touch with
another language (even if they don't learn to speak it
fluently) may not necessarily increase their IQ, but it can give
them superior communication skills and contribute to a
broader perspective.
My experience
As a child who was raised around multiple languages and
cultures, I can vouch for the pivotal role these play in
development. Although was surrounded by people of varying
ethnicities, many of whom spoke more than one language
(including some in my own family), I didn't become fluent in
another language until I reached my mid-20s. But my parents
always encouraged familiarity with those other languages and
cultures.
Because of this, I learned to see the world through different
sets of eyes from a very early age. It was fascinating to me
how a simple news report would elicit completely different
responses from my mother (with a Portuguese background),
my father (who is Filipino), and my (pretty diverse) American
friends. These types of experiences helped me to realize that
everyone's perspective is different, and these perspectives are
shaped by a myriad of factors.
To this day, I relate well to people from just about any
background. When meeting people who come from an
unfamiliar place, I naturally focus on what we share in
common — but I'm always fascinated by the differences.
Putting it into practice
Of course, my research is far more anecdotal than that of Ms.
Kinzler and her associates. And although I've never taken an
IQ test, I'm sure it's nothing to brag about.
But if you want to inspire natural curiosity and a love of
learning in your children, remember this: You don't need to
be bilingual.
Just encourage them to be.