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We know that learning a language can do amazing things in your brain; For example, it can help you tune out distractions, multitask, and even delay the onset of diseases like Alzheimer's. But what about creativity or playing an instrument? There have always been great bilingual artists like Pablo Picasso or Frida Kahlo who are recognized as great painters who captured art or musicians like Camila Cabello and Shakira who, apart from dazzling us with their songs, can speak other languages. Likewise, comparing the skills of the interviewees, we have understood that acquiring another language has been facilitated through music because this way they can memorize words, acquire phonetics and improve listening comprehension. (Gonzalez, 2018)

There is evidence of an improvement in cognitive abilities (Berland, 2014). However, there is a positive effect on executive function, which allows "the individual to quickly process information and retain it, regulate their behavior, make better decisions, solve problems, set and adjust their minds to different tasks" (Rampton, 2017). That is why, by improving executive function, learning an instrument helps us to react more intelligently. (La Escala, 2019).

To reinforce the above, we found this research by Professor Aneta Pavlenko, from the University of Oslo, which investigates whether singers and musicians learn a language easier, it was published in Psychology Today magazine. It is mentioned that paying more attention to sounds and rhythm gives an advantage, since they detect the sound patterns of the second language, and they have better pronunciation. Also, she suggests that there is a brain connection between music and language, although neuropsychological studies have shown that music and language are located in different parts of the brain, right hemisphere and left hemisphere respectively. This connection is because although they are located in different parts, both share very similar processes, for example, rhythm, phrasing and interpretation, tonal memory, the ability to imitate and improvise based on familiar sequences, etc. Anita Bowles and her colleagues asked 160 native English speakers to learn a small lexicon of Mandarin pseudo-words by listening to recordings, which was difficult as they were similar in pronunciation but different in tone. From the results we could see that months of private music lessons were a better predictor of the accuracy of tonal word learning than general cognitive ability. The same was true in other studies in which English-, French-, and Italian-speaking musicians surpass non-English-speaking musicians in identifying Mandarin tones. This doesn’t mean that if you're not good at music, you won't be good at languages; there is only this "advantage" in musicians for the identification of tones.

As we already mentioned, language acquisition helps us understand language in a cognitive way. but when referring to second language acquisition, we can say that “SLA mainly seeks to investigate the acquisition of a new language beyond the mother tongue or first language, compromising not just the progressive aspects of first language acquisition, but all the aspects of the second language user’s language enclosed in other areas of linguistics and psychology”. (Aljumah, 2020; Cook, 2002; Dornyei, 2013) In the interviews we made, most of the interviewees seemed to acknowledge what language acquisition means. Therefore, when asked to self-assess their level of language acquisition on a scale of 0-10, an average of 8 was achieved. 

The left hemisphere of the brain is known for being the dominant in language acquisition as adults. However, studies have shown that when we are infants, the one that dominates the language field is in fact the right hemisphere of the brain. This was verified since, according to Genesee (2002), when an infant presents injury in that hemisphere, their language abilities are affected in their adulthood. We asked the questioner about their abilities and since when they have been practicing it in order to perceive those who started doing the skill at an early age. Four out of ten people that were interviewed answered that they started doing said strength as teenagers, while the rest explained that they started doing it at an early age —among 6 to 8 years old—.

Concluding and returning to our initial hypothesis, we are clear that the theory of the creative and logical hemispheres is invalid, since it depends on the abilities of each person. After the investigation and the answers obtained in the survey, we confirm in a certain way with the chosen hypothesis. Having a relationship with the arts makes us have more 'advantages' in understanding one or more languages. It was interesting how a lot of people had similarities when talking about their favorite subjects, being the most common English and arts. Therefore, it was easier for them to learn a second language since, as we mentioned, the right hemisphere plays an important role in language skills at a young age, so being interested in a language and artistic skill may have been an advantage for them to have a better language acquisition. 

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Aljumah, F. (2020). Second Language Acquisition: A Framework and Historical Background on Its Research. In English Language Teaching (pp. 200-207). Canadian Center of Science and Education. 10.5539/elt.v13n8p200
Gonzรกlez, C. (2018). ¿Puede una persona bilingรผe ser mรกs creativa? Blog Emagister. Recuperado el 29 de noviembre. Disponible en: https://www.emagister.com/blog/puede-una-persona-bilingue-mas-creativa
Genesee, F. (2000). Brain Research: Implications for Second Language Learning. McGill University. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58n560k4
La Escala (2019) ¿Tocar un instrumento nos hace mรกs inteligentes? Academia de Mรบsica La Escala. Recuperado el 29 de noviembre. Disponible en: http://www.laescala.com.mx/blog/tocar-un-instrumento-nos-hace-mas-inteligentes
Pavlenko, A. (2017). Do Musicians Make Better Language Learners? Psychology Today. Recuperado el 29 de noviembre. Disponible en: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/life-bilingual/201707/do-musicians-make-better-language-learners