According to a new study undertaken in the USA, those who speak two or more languages can benefit from increased brain power. The study run by Northwestern University might be news to us, but surely we already knew that having the ability to converse in various tongues is advantageous for the brain?
Previous studies have proven that bilingualism can help to prevent the onset of dementia, and it is often noted that monolinguists are 'outperformed' at mental activities such as multitasking, focusing on tasks with background noise and distractions, and ignoring irrelevant information when it comes to prioritising. This is all good news to me as someone who speaks three languages (albeit not completely fluently by any means).
These benefits are more apparent amongst those who learnt to speak multiple languages from a young age. However, can it be that this is a phenomenon exclusive to linguists? Undoubtedly learning any ability whilst young is advantageous, whether it be languages, maths, music, computing or other types of problem solving and more difficult cognitive processes.
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
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