learning a language is good for your brain

There are lots of reasons for learning another language:

Jay Doubleyou: 34 unobvious benefits of learning a second language

Most of the lists put 'boosting brain power' at the top:

Benefits of Learning a Second Language: 17 Mind-Blowing Reasons to Learn a Language, Backed by Science

Top 10 Benefits of Learning a Foreign Language

In fact, learning a foreign language is good on many counts when it comes to brain power:

How a second language can boost the brain

Learning a New Language at Any Age Helps the Brain | Live Science

How does learning a second language impact the brain and cognitive ability? | Berlitz

‘The cognitive benefits of learning a language’ in two minutes | The British Academy

Speaking two languages may help the aging brain - The Washington Post

Here's a good list:

compared to people that speak one language, adults who speak multiple languages are more likely to: 

• Have greater general intelligence (6)

• Have superior overall cognitive abilities (7)

• Be better at planning, prioritizing, and decision-making (8)

• Score higher on standardized math, reading, and vocabulary tests (9)

• Be more perceptive of their surroundings

• Avoid falling for marketing hype

• Understand others’ points of view (10)

• Have better focus, concentration, and attention (11)

• Delay immediate gratification in the pursuit of long-term goals (12)

• Have better memory and memorization skills (13)

• Exhibit mental flexibility (14)

• Be better at prioritizing tasks and working on multiple projects at one time (15)

• Be better at remembering lists, names, and directions (16)

• Have a better understanding of their native language

• Be more creative (17)

• Have good listening skills (18)

• Make more rational decisions including better financial decisions (19)

The Brain Benefits of Learning a Second Language | Be Brain Fit

This is from the Guardian reporting on a Swedish study from 2014:

What happens in the brain when you learn a language?

Scans and neuroscience are helping scientists understand what happens to the brain when you learn a second language

Learning a foreign language can increase the size of your brain. This is what Swedish scientists discovered when they used brain scans to monitor what happens when someone learns a second language.

...

Kara Morgan-Short, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, uses electrophysiology to examine the inner workings of the brain. She and her colleagues taught second-language learners to speak an artificial language – a miniature language constructed by linguists to test claims about language learnability in a controlled way. In their experiment, one group of volunteers learned through explanations of the rules of the language, while a second group learned by being immersed in the language, similar to how we all learn our native languages. While all of their participants learned, it was the immersed learners whose brain processes were most like those of native speakers.

What happens in the brain when you learn a language? | Education | The Guardian

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