Want to Speed up Your Brain? Learn a New Language!

Want to Speed up Your Brain? Learn a New Language!

There are lots of exercises and hacks with which you can improve your cognitive abilities. But what if it came withthe perks of helping your career and making your travels more enjoyable?

Learning a new language is just suchan exercise. In our increasingly globalized world knowledge of an additionallanguage other than your native tongue is an especially valuable skill. Plus,the challenge of learning a new thing gives your brain a good workout, there by improving its overall functionality. Here’s how learning a foreign language impacts your brain.

1. Improves memory – People who learn and speak a second language has been observed to have a sharper short-term memory. Learning a foreign language requires memorizing a whole lot of new stuff, and accessing that memory while you use that language. This strengthens your short-term or working memory, i.e. where you store and process information over a short period of time, which benefits not only your language-learning but every area of your life.
2. Sharpens cognitive abilities – People who learn and speak two or more languages perform significantly better at standardized vocabulary, reading and math tests than monolingual people, according to a study conducted by University of Edinburgh on 262 people of various ages from2008 to 2010. Reading and general intelligence were found to be most strongly improved by learning a new language at any stage of your life.
3. Helps to slow down Dementia – The same study found, knowing two or more languages can help delay the onset of Dementia by almost five years than monolingual people. Learning and speaking multiple languages are great exercises for your brain, thus it keeps active for longer and thereby more immune to memory and cognition-related and diseases like Dementia.
4. Improves attention and focus – A multilingual person has a lot more to chose from when it comes to using verbal or written language than a monolingual person, so their brain gets better at processing information in general. Comprehending and responding to a foreign language takes focus, and so does switching between languages in your daily usage. This training improves your overall ability to filter out distraction and focus.
5. Smarter decision-making skills – Learning a new language may help you become a better decision-maker, because your brain becomes better at filtering irrelevant stimuli and focusing on relevant information. This is why multilingual people are found to be better immune to propaganda, marketing hype, and exaggerated information. This ability helps you make smarter decisions in life.
6. Better listening and understanding skills – When you learn a language other than your native tongue, your brain has to learn to work extra hard to comprehend it properly. This sharpens your auditory information processing skills. As a result, you become better at listening and comprehending things even in your own language, which leads to greater understanding of situations and people.
7. Improves your native-language skills – You learn your nativelanguage intuitively, generally from your home environment. But while learninga second language you have to pay attention to its syntax and grammaticalstructure. This makes you more aware of linguistic differences and rules ingeneral, which positively impacts your skills in your native tongue as well.People who study a different language have been found to be better speakers andwriters in their native tongues.

Conclusion

Learning a new language is challenging, sure. Butguess who loves a new challenge every other day? Your brain! Challenging yourbrain regularly is the best way to keep it fit and healthy. No harm in gainingsome career advantage in doing so, we say!