Being able to speak another language well is good for your brain:
Psychology researchers provide new evidence that bilingualism can delay symptoms of dementia. Researchers found bilingualism provides the brain with greater cognitive reserve, delaying onset of symptoms.
Can bilingualism protect the brain even with early stages of dementia? | ScienceDaily
Speaking a second language shows benefits in Alzheimer’s - Alzheimer's Research UK
Brain scans showed that lifelong bilinguals have stronger connections between certain brain areas compared to those who only speak one language – this appears to allow their brains to cope better with damage before they start to show outward signs of dementia.Bilingual brains are more resilient to dementia cause by Alzheimer’s disease | Alzheimer's Society
Why a bilingual brain is more resistant to dementia
My students have asked many times in which language I dream. They smile when I answer that all I can remember is how well I can, in my dreams, speak any of the languages I have learnt and the disappointment when I wake up.
It reminds me of a program I used in workshops to demonstrate the mental effort required to learn a second language in adulthood, even in old age, when your brain is monolingual. However, the benefits are equally powerful.
We all know that speaking several languages has advantages for communication. But it can have other benefits too. Could we be better at multitasking or have less risk of suffering from dementia? Scientists have debated these issues for over a decade without fully agreeing. They do know that using several languages changes our brains physically and how they work. You don't have to be bilingual from birth to leave a positive imprint on your brain. Let's see why...
Why a bilingual brain is more resistant to dementia | Sidmouth Herald
And looking more generally:
Bilingual people show increased activation in the brain region associated with cognitive skills like attention and inhibition. For example, bilinguals are proven to be better than monolinguals in encoding the fundamental frequency of sounds in the presence of background noise.
Cognitive benefits of being bilingual
In a cafe in south London, two construction workers are engaged in cheerful banter, tossing words back and forth. Their cutlery dances during more emphatic gesticulations and they occasionally break off into loud guffaws. They are discussing a woman, that much is clear, but the details are lost on me. It’s a shame, because their conversation sounds fun and interesting, especially to a nosy person like me. But I don’t speak their language.
Out of curiosity, I interrupt them to ask what language they are speaking. They both switch easily to English, explaining that they are South Africans and had been speaking Xhosa. In Johannesburg, where they are from, most people speak at least five languages, says one of them, Theo Morris. For example, Morris’s mother’s tongue is Sotho, his father’s is Zulu; he learned Xhosa and Ndebele from his friends and neighbours and English and Afrikaans at school. “I went to Germany before I came here, so I also speak German,” he adds.
Was it easy to learn so many languages? “Yes, it’s normal,” he laughs.
He’s right. Around the world, more than half of people – estimates vary from 60-75% – speak at least two languages. Many countries have more than one official national language – South Africa has 11. People are increasingly expected to speak, read and write at least one of a handful of “super” languages, such as English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish or Arabic, as well. So to be monolingual, as many native English speakers are, is to be in the minority and perhaps to be missing out.Why being bilingual works wonders for your brain | Language | The Guardian
Why being bilingual is good for your brain | BBC Ideas - YouTube
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