We all know that being bilingual is a useful skill to have in the workplace and when travelling, but recent research shows that speaking more than one language can do even more, it can actually make it easier to learn another one.
A 2024 study from the Netherlands, published in Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, found that bilingual children outperformed monolinguals when learning a third language - English - especially when they had plenty of exposure to it outside the classroom. The researchers concluded that bilinguals have developed valuable “language learning tools” such as metalinguistic awareness and flexible thinking, that they can transfer to new languages. In other words, it’s not just a natural talent; the experience of juggling two languages sharpens the brain for future learning.
Similarly, a 2025 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that bilingual children pick up English grammar faster when their first language shares certain structural features showing that bilingual experience and linguistic overlap together can boost third-language learning. And a separate 2025 study from Egypt reported that bilingual children aged 5 - 7 performed better than their monolingual peers on cognitive and language-related tasks, suggesting that bilingualism enhances general mental flexibility.
All of this reinforces what linguists have long suspected: learning one additional language can make learning others easier. Once you’ve gone through the process of understanding how languages work, you become more aware of patterns, structures, and strategies that make the next one less daunting.
This is yet another reason for schools to start teaching languages from an early age, early exposure doesn’t just give students one new skill, it sets them up to become better language learners for life.
So - what’s your next language going to be?
