Name of speaker and subject:

Antonella Sorace, bilingualism

Title of talk: One brain, two language, many advantages

Bullet points of what you would like to cover:

• myths about bilingualism
• linguistic benefits of bilingualism
• mental benefits of bilingualism
• child vs. adult bilingualism
• bilingualism in society and the power of information

Suggested you-tube links, websites and / or texts where
further information may be found:

www. bilingualism-matters.org.uk

A few words about you and your passion:
I do research on language and cognition in bilingual speakers. I have two bilingual sons.
I am committed to public engagement through my project Bilingualism Matters.

A few lines about the history of your subject:

People in many parts of the world grow up with different languages but research on bilingualism is relatively recent. Now bilingualism is more common in Europe but it tends to be regarded positively or negatively depending on which languages are involved. The strong message coming from research is that bilingualism in any languages potentially sharpens some brain functions, so all languages are important and have the same cognitive status.

Anything else you may want to say:

I have given dozens of talks to many different lay audiences. People get very passionate about this topic and usually ask lots of questions.
 

On 14th September two talks were given in the Blind Poet pub from 7pm.  Antonella gave a talk alongside Tim Dew to a crowd of people.  Thanks to Andy the Manager who made it all possible.