According to the researchers, the process of acquiring a second language can significantly improve intellectual performance and delay brain aging. Studies have shown that children and adults who are learning or speaking a foreign language benefit from the extra effort required by juggling two sets of vocabulary and grammar at once.
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5 advantages of learning a second language
Acquisition of cognitive intelligence through learning a foreign language takes place on many levels:
1. Improves memory
Noam Chomsky, a world-famous American linguist and philosopher, pointed out that a child between 2 and 5 years old can remember a new word every hour. It is irrelevant whether they are words of the native language or a foreign language.
The thesis that learning foreign languages improves memory is confirmed by numerous studies. These, published in 2013 in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology showed a huge impact that language learning has on children’s memory, especially the working memory responsible for storing and processing information in a short period of time.
2. Better making decisions capacity
Researchers at the University of Chicago have come to the conclusion that bilingual people make decisions based on rational premises more efficiently. This is because knowledge of the second (and subsequent) language “is present” all the time in our brain and subconsciously participates in all decision-making processes (through greater ability to capture details that escape monolingual people).
Why? Because speaking in a foreign language is purely rational and does not involve those parts of the brain that are responsible for emotions. It is an intellectual challenge and this fact does not change even when we face a difficult ethical dilemma.
3. Improves ability to focus attention
The results of the research published in the Brain and Language Journal are unambiguous: knowledge of a foreign language improves the ability to concentrate attention and, at the same time, block unwanted stimuli (e.g. noise). The study was conducted at the University of Birmingham on a group of 99 volunteers, 51 of whom spoke only English, and the others from early childhood also spoke Chinese.
Participants were subjected to simple psychological tests, such as: test of concentration ability and test demonstrating reaction time to a task. The results of bilingual and monolingual participants were similar in terms of accuracy of answers, but bilingual responded much faster to their tasks. Why? The mechanism is simple – a person who uses more than one language almost every day, develops the ability to “switch” between these languages. To this end, he must involve his efficient decision-making system and concentrate. This gives the brain plenty of opportunities to practice focus and filter information.
4. Delays Alzheimer’s disease
By activating the working memory of the human brain, bilingualism can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease or various types of dementia by at least 5 years. Alan Baddeley’s research showed the following relationship: while the average age of a monolingual person who develops the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease is 71.4 years, it increases to 75.5 for bilinguals!
5. Stimulates multidirectional perception
Learning a second language in early childhood affects your ability to spot differences. This is clearly demonstrated by research at the Pompeu Fabra University in Spain: multilinguals show a greater ability to choose from reality information that is cognitively relevant to them.
Small children, brought up in a multilingual environment on a daily basis, can distinguish between two foreign languages, even if they do not speak them or even do not speak them – for example, if a child can hear Spanish and Catalan at home, they will be able to distinguish language in speech English from French.