We believe that real change happens through dialogue between researchers and the community. We work in partnership with parents, teachers, health professionals, policy makers and employers to help create impact in people’s daily lives. There are now branches of Bilingualism Matters all over the world – check out our new website to find one near you.

Research has shown that bilingualism is beneficial for children’s development and their future. Children exposed to different languages become more aware of different cultures, other people and other points of view. But they also tend to be better than monolinguals at ‘multitasking’ and focusing attention. They are often more precocious readers, and generally find it easier to learn other languages. Bilingualism gives children much more than two languages!

More recent research also suggests that learning another language may have benefits in later life, delaying the onset of dementia symptoms, and slowing cognitive aging. The good news is that these benefits seem to exist even when people learn a second language later in life.

In 2022, Bilingualism Matters launched as a spin-out social enterprise from its original home at the University of Edinburgh. This new structure will enable BM as an organisation to better serve the international network of research centres and further our collective mission to communicate research findings on bilingualism and language learning to the wider public.