Some unexpected benefits of language learning

It is commonly said that children have an easier, seemingly more effortless experience picking up languages in comparison to adults; this reason is often taken as a major deterrent to the concept of language learning as we grow older. The reality is that you haven’t ‘missed the boat’, or any sort of opportunity to learn a new language at all: the trick is in primarily in immersion, and practice. It is this multilingual exposure that adults lack - and that children who learn new languages usually do have - that make immersive language learning more of a challenge as we grow older. This is particularly the case because not everyone has the time or the luxury to spend hours upon hours of time in environments that challenge their communication skills. However, this does not negate the fact that the knowledge of foreign languages is only becoming a more important (and financeable!) skill to have in our extremely interconnected world. Crucially, it has been proven that mastering a language also makes you a better learner overall. Below, I intend to explore how the process of language learning can enrich your life in more ways than you’d expect.

The first, and most obvious, advantage of language learning boils down to the importance of the ability to communicate. To be able to understand a wider array of people, for example, through the recognition of everyday nuances, allows us to communicate more effectively by better understanding other people’s thoughts, feelings, and needs - as well as having ours understood in return. This is exactly why many experts claim that language learning makes you more empathetic; as English speakers, we more often than not take our native language for granted. It is easy to forget that just because we have the privilege of being fluent in a globally recognised language such as English does not mean that we should assume that there is no point in knowing other languages. Moreover, visiting another country without native knowledge of the language can teach you empathy through humility: when you are, quite literally, put in the shoes of someone who is finding it difficult to be understood, you can better empathise with people who have come from elsewhere and might have trouble articulating themselves in an unfamiliar setting.

Apart from making you a more compassionate person, research has also shown that the work you put in to study languages can even change the physical structure of your brain. It was found by scientists from Sweden that the brains of scholars who had studied languages were larger compared to the regular-sized brains of those who had not; the growth was based mainly in the parts of the brain related to language skills. Recent research has also found that bilingualism is directly linked to how long your brain stays healthy for - people who learn another language, even in adulthood, may be able to delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s for an average of four and a half years! Scientist Dr Thomas Bak attributes this to their ability to better focus on the details of language.  

In addition to this, studies have shown that students who study foreign languages tend to do better in standardised exams, scoring significantly better in areas such as maths and vocabulary. Since picking up a language involves thinking in a methodical, structured way, it makes sense that multilinguists have been demonstrated to have better focus and a better memory. This ability to control your attention and to tune out distractions clearly illustrates how language learning can make you a better multitasker, as it trains you to process information more efficiently - after all, bilinguals are constantly blocking out one language in order to communicate with another.

Increased compassion, focus, and quite literally a bigger brain! What’s not to gain from learning a new language? This may be partially spurred by the fact that I am trying to become reaccustomed to learning German at University again, but I think the points still stand either way. 

References:

https://www.student.com/articles/learning-language-better-student 

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/language-learning-better-person 

https://www.mooc.org/blog/why-is-it-important-to-study-a-foreign-language