Living4 healthy effects of learning languages

4 healthy effects of learning languages

In today’s increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, mastering other languages is a vital skill that offers us the opportunity to interact with the world in a more immediate and meaningful way, whether at a social or work level. Let’s see what science says about it.

Brain plasticity. After examining 105 people of whom 80 were bilingual, scientists from University College London (United Kingdom) found that knowing a second language positively modifies the structure of the brain, specifically the area that processes information. In particular, it improves the so-called brain plasticity , enhancing learning and memory.

Delays Alzheimer’s. Ellen Bialystok, Professor of Psychology at the University of York in Toronto, Canada, conducted a study with 450 Alzheimer’s patients, half of whom had spoken two languages for most of their lives, while the rest only spoke one. Bialystok found that people who spoke more than one language began to show symptoms of the disease 4-5 years later .

More concentrated. According to research published last year in the journal Psychological Science , children who learn more than one language are better able to concentrate and focus their attention , ignoring interference that can distract them.

Mental gymnastics. When a bilingual person changes from one language to another, they are exercising their brain, as Judith Kroll, from the Center for Language Science at Penn State University (USA), has found. This “brain gymnastics” allows you to better handle multitasking situations, that is, working on several projects at the same time.

 

You will perfect your native language . When we learn a new language, we can appreciate the roots and foundations of our native language. This is because we grow up speaking that language, not thinking much in terms of how sentence structures worked or breaking down the accents of each syllable. Studying a second language will significantly improve first language grammar, reading, vocabulary, and speaking skills.

See world . Traveling as a speaker of the local language can completely change a trip abroad. While monolingual travelers are able to visit the same places as most, those who know more than one language can more easily navigate outside the tourist bubble and interact with the place and its people in a much closer way. Learning a second language also gives us opportunities to study or work abroad.

Improve confidence. Any language learner can attest to making mistakes while discovering a new language, but it is a necessary and extremely important part of the learning process. Learning a language means leaving our comfort zone. The feeling of being able to converse with someone in their native language will improve your confidence for other tasks.

Double your creativity. When you learn a new language, we may be forced to think of an alternative word that we are not used to using. We have to put words together to form a sentence until it fits and makes sense to the other person. Thanks to this, you will improve your divergent thinking skills, training you to think of multiple solutions to effective problems.

 

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