5 things you need to know about foreign languages:

• You can improve your ability to comprehend someone with a heavy accent by imitating the way they speak.

• You can tell the language of the mother from listening to her baby cry.

• Bilinguals are more creative. Also, there’s a downside to being bilingual.

• We cut non-native speakers a lot of slack but we’re less likely to trust them.

• “An Italian singer wrote this song with gibberish to sound like English. If you’ve ever wondered what other people think Americans sound like, this is it.”

Join 25K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.