The Effects of Learning a Foreign Language
Learning a foreign language not only allows you to meet and converse with locals while on vacation, but also benefits your mind in many ways. Although children naturally learn languages faster than adults, taking a class or teaching yourself a second language at any age can improve your memory, strengthen your cognitive skills and even make you smarter.
Other People Are Reading
-
Improves Native Language Skills
-
Studies reported in the "Modern Language Journal" in 1987 showed students who took a foreign language received significantly higher scores on the verbal portion of their SAT than students who didn't take foreign language. When you study a foreign language, the language centers of your brain strengthen, which helps with your studies and improves how you use and understand your own language. Also, as you learn a foreign language you become more attuned to your own language's quirks and grammar.
Boosts Memory
-
Although it may seem tedious, sometimes the only way to learn vocabulary and verb conjugation in a foreign language is through memorization tricks. However, according to the Alzheimer's Association, by training your brain to memorize and retain words from another language, you build the memory areas of your brain. This makes it easier to remember other things, such as where you put your keys or what was on the grocery list.
-
Boosts Overall Brain Function
-
Learning a second language improves what you know about that language and culture, but it also trains your brain to be more flexible in problem-solving in other areas. As reported in Arkansas Children's Hospital's publication "Kid's Sense" in 1998, as you learn a foreign language, different areas of your brain, from the cerebral cortex to the occipital lobe, all need to function together. The more these neurons work together, the more efficiently they do so even when working on something not related to language, such as math problems or balancing your checkbook.
Improves Aging Brain
-
Although children tend to learn languages more quickly than adults, there is no age limit on learning. As an adult learns a foreign language, she puts into use various areas of the brain and makes them work together. From learning new words to putting those words into the proper order, this mental workout strengthens the mind against some forms of age-related cognitive decline. The Alzheimer's Association notes that learning a foreign language, or any new skill, as an adult is like exercise for the brain and is just as important as exercise for the body.
-
References
- Photo Credit Christopher Furlong/Getty Images News/Getty Images
