Why Learning a New Language Improves your Mental Health

When we think of improving our health, we tend to think of physical exercise and improvement diet. But what about our mental health and cognitive function? Staying alert and sharp is something more of us want to do. As we age, our responses can slow but keeping the brain active has shown to stave off this decline. There is research that suggests learning a new language could be one way of keeping our brain alert and active.

The benefits of learning a new language

If you want to keep your brain and mind active, becoming bilingual and using different languages in your daily life could be the solution you are looking for.

Better decision making

The lexicon of a language, that is the range of words and vocabulary, varies from one language to another. When we have a broader range of words at our disposal, research suggests that we become better at problem-solving.

When it comes to slowing mental decline, superior problem-solving and reasoning skills work in our favour.

Improves your use of native language

Whether you are counted amongst the 1.132 billion people who speak English, the most commonly spoken language in the world or whether Hungarian is your native tongue, being able to use your first language more successful is also important to your health.

Language allows us to see the world through different eyes and so a range of words at your disposal means you have a rich tapestry of language to draw on.

Improving language skills physically affects your brain

Arguably, the brain is the most important organ in the body and yet, we understand very little about how it works or why it works that way.

What is known is that learning a language gives us bigger brains, a fact backed by Swedish research into what happens to our brain when we learn a language. In short, the parts of the brain responsible for language grew and developed, leading to an increase in brain size.

Even better was that many of those who studied language as part of this experiment studied lesser-used and known languages such as Dari, a Persian language spoken by around 2.5 million people.  

Bilingualism slows the onset of dementia

Dementia has been referred to as the health crisis of modern times. The World Health Organisation estimated there are 50 million people living with dementia, although this figure could be far higher.

Research into dementia, its causes, prevention and treatment are ongoing, with scientists racing to find a way to stop and reverse the effects of this degenerative condition.

One study did find that people who spoke more than one language started to feel the effects of dementia five years later, on average, than those who spoke the one language.

Keeping your brain active

The link between language and keeping the brain active appears to play some part in keeping dementia at bay, reason enough to take on the challenge of learning Spanish, Vietnamese or another language of your choice!