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The cognitive benefits of multilingualism | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| rodrigoau Triglot Newbie Australia Joined 3636 days ago 19 posts - 52 votes  Speaks: Macedonian*, English, Spanish Studies: Italian, Turkish | Message 1 of 12 08 January 2015 at 2:00pm | IP Logged |
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Another interesting article I thought I would share with you.
(Sorry if the link is not working; you can easily find the article though). For anyone who might lack a motivation to learn a foreign language (or two or three), studies have found that multi-lingual people (or simply those who study a foreign language) are better at standardized tests (math, reading, vocabulary), more perceptive to their surroundings, better decision-makers, better at spending money, better at writing, less likely to be brainwashed (i.e. less prone to conditioning techniques such as advertising or political speeches), can delay dementia (education and intelligence were found to matter less than learning a foreign language), better at multi-tasking, better at paying attention in a variety of ways etc. In a nutshell, we are better thinkers. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/10/20/comment-better -brain-learn-another- language I think all this is fascinating evidence that the vast majority of people who never bother to learn a second language (and keep wondering why we bother to) are unaware of. I find myself misunderstood all the time by people around me (Why do you learn Italian? Are you planning to move there?) This is especially prevalent in the English- speaking world - it's really EXTREMELY rare to find anyone who speaks a second language in the country where I live (Australia), unless they are of diverse cultural background or have chosen a career in the field. And I mean extremely. For me, apart from English, learning languages has never been about being able to communicate with people in that language (which 99.99% of the people would think is in fact the whole point of learning a language). I always thought that people who are born into the English language have a GREAT advantage in life (and they do), but in the past years I've realized more and more how much they are missing on by never bothering to learn a foreign language. Not only in an obvious way (a narrower cultural perspective in life), but also missing on opportunities to develop cognitively the way we do. Good to know there are more and more scientific studies confirming that learning foreign languages is not futile, but on the contrary, gives you a number of advantages in life. This is important for my motivation, as I often feel guilty spending my time on this activity and often am tempted to think that I could be doing or even learning something more useful. 9 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6584 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 2 of 12 08 January 2015 at 3:11pm | IP Logged |
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Nice find! What I miss in all of these sudies is how diminishing the returns are. What's the difference in cognitive advantages in speaking two as opposed to three, five or ten languages? I'd love to see that.
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| liam.pike1 Groupie Australia Joined 3756 days ago 84 posts - 122 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto, French | Message 3 of 12 08 January 2015 at 3:33pm | IP Logged |
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As an Aussie, I can second your point about Australians being (arguably) the worst foreign language learners there are. Sure, quite a number of people speak more than one language because they have immigrated from other countries (I'm looking at China, Korea, and India here), but there is literally almost no one who is from a monolingual English background who can speak another language in Australia. I assume the same goes for the Anglophone world in general.
But then again, in Australia we don't really have a need to learn any other languages (other than for the seemingly abstract concept of 'cognitive benefit', which is not well publicised), so we can't be blamed for being almost 'non-existent' language-learners. New Zealand, our closest friend, are English-speakers. In the main place where Australians go to holiday in Indonesia, Bali, everyone speaks English, since Bali's existence is practically due solely to Australian holidaymakers (which will probably become fewer in number once another terrorist attack occurs). And there's no one else around. We are in the middle of nowhere. However, New Caledonia is nearby for me to practise my French one day! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Zireael Triglot Senior Member Poland Joined 4653 days ago 518 posts - 636 votes Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, Spanish Studies: German, Sign Language, Tok Pisin, Arabic (Yemeni), Old English | Message 4 of 12 08 January 2015 at 4:55pm | IP Logged |
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I clicked on the link hoping it was something I could use in my MA. Turns out it isn't, which makes me a sad panda.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4446 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 5 of 12 08 January 2015 at 11:24pm | IP Logged |
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1 thing about European languages like English, Spanish, Portuguese & French is that they have a large
geographic distribution leftover from the colonial era. There are languages like Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, etc. that have a large number of speakers but these tend to be localized in specific regions of the world. Learning 2 or more languages opens up other culture along with news & info you don't often hear from other countries. Like learning to play a music instrument, learning languages stimulate the brain and improve cognitive functions. However, when it comes to fighting memory loss, there are other factors at play. I know someone in his 80s who is suffering from dementia. He would recall things that happened 30 years ago but not something that was said 5 minutes earlier. As a native Cantonese speaker, he also acquired Mandarin & English along the way. As a smoker earlier in life and someone who suffered from depression, you need to take other environmental factors into account. For a few years he went to Japanese classes but this became such a routine that he never progressed to the point of communicating besides a few basic phrases. As someone who play music with a local band, I am terrible at reading music but can recall melodies from memory given enough practice. Every year, our band would play new compositions so there is always the push to learn new pieces. Over the Christmas break I learned to play "Christmas Time is Here" from the Charlie Brown 1965 TV special. Over the years, people tend to slow down. Even learning another language or play a music instrument, you have to push yourself to go further than just going to class and read only the materials assigned as required readings. You need to be always pushing further to read local newspapers, follow local TV shows. In music you'd always be finding new songs to play. Besides languages and music, there are other activities such as playing cards or the Chinese game Mahjong which would allow you to use your mind regularly while having fun. People tend to think of learning languages or music instruments as academic exercises they do in class when they are younger. Older people tend to be less inclined to take up these activities for the sake of learning. I know a man who got into Chinese in his 80s for no other reason because he is an ethnic Chinese living abroad without a lot of exposure to the language. Otherwise he wouldn't take up the language for interest. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| jamesleecoleman Newbie United States Joined 4489 days ago 38 posts - 52 votes Studies: Russian, Persian | Message 6 of 12 08 February 2015 at 11:28pm | IP Logged |
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There was a space between one of the hyphens and words. That's why the link didn't work.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/10/20/comment-better -brain-learn-another-language 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4292 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 7 of 12 09 February 2015 at 12:00am | IP Logged |
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Quite a few Anglophones always think that English should dominate the world until the
next Ice Age comes, or until the Sun turns into a supernova, and that other languages need to be supplanted by English, but the truth is, who gives a damn what they think-- for me it is very simple: learning other languages opens not only cultural and friendship advantages with other people, but also the cognitive advantages of being multilingual and studying languages helps me as much as doing partial differential equations. Most of my acquaintances and friends now are Hispanophones, that is to say, I used to have friends out of whom almost 100% spoke English. Now the people with whom I relate the most in terms of culture and language are people from languages whose official language is Spanish, communicating all in Spanish, not English. Not to mention the Netherlanders, Norwegians, Italians, Swedes, etc. with whom I formed friendships that were facilitated in great part by knowing their languages. I am 100% sure that I would never have the relationships that I have now had I decided to be the typical [monolingual] Anglophone. I would say that the percentage of my acquaintances and friends whose native language is English is well below 15%. All because I chose not to be the monolingual Anglophone that I was before age 13. As someone with a mathematics background, having 8 languages (9 soon) is like doing calculations. Each conversation is recall on formulaic knowledge and applying it to new situations, like a new maths or engineering problem. Grammar is like doing mathematical rules, which perhaps shows why I am very interested in textbook-style grammar in all of my languages. It is true that I have had some people say that learning languages is a waste, because the Anglophone world can force everyone to speak English through colonial-style power (which was in some sort the case in the British Empire and present-day USA), but there is always resistance to this type of strategy, and those who choose monolingualism, especially in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, in my eyes, is equivalent to choosing to refuse to learn to read and write in primary school. In terms of tool for learning, I think that in the USA they only require 2(!) years of a foreign language to pass to matriculate secondary school. I find that very disturbing, especially knowing that in many other countries, learning foreign languages starts at 5. If I were a prime minister, I would make it such that passing with a minimum mark at least 3 languages, all starting from age 5 in primary school and continuing into the last year of secondary school is necessary to graduate both. But that is just me. In the mean time, el Congreso de los Diputados in Spain are considering implementing additional cognitive activities and sports into the main curriculum, like chess, just like the USSR did and how Russia and China currently have it. Add 3 languages and that is one hell of a world class curriculum. Edited by 1e4e6 on 09 February 2015 at 12:36am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| carlyd Groupie United States Joined 3991 days ago 94 posts - 138 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 8 of 12 09 February 2015 at 4:19am | IP Logged |
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Although it is probably different all over the country, where I live in California, foreign language is not a requirement to graduate from high school. It is lumped under "Arts" and other classes can be taken instead.
There is, however, a goal that students graduating can actually read and write English, whether it is their native language or not. We're not honestly doing well with that as most community colleges have to provide remedial English classes to high school graduates. When I was in school (a LONG time ago) Spanish was required from 4th to 8th, then you could stay in Spanish or choose a different language for the next 2 years. Those days are sadly gone. I am much more impressed by other countries and their expectations of language study. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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