A bilingual brain is not necessarily a smarter brain, but it is proving to be a more flexible, more resourceful one. In a polyglot
world, that's a lesson that a largely monoglot country like the U.S. ignores at its peril. "Monolingualism," says Gregg Roberts, a
language-immersion specialist with the Utah state office of education, "is the illiteracy of the 21st century."studies show, are better at reasoning, at multitasking, at grasping and reconciling conflicting ideas. They work faster and expend
less energy doing so, and as they age, they retain their cognitive faculties longer, delaying the onset of dementia and even
full-blown Alzheimer's disease.95% of school districts participating up through grade 12. Competition for spots in the program is keen: families apply online
before kids enter kindergarten or first grade--depending on the school district--and the ones who will participate are picked by
lottery. Those who are chosen take half their subjects each day in the new language and the other half in English.