Usually the media and people talk about learning another languages is one the most important things nowadays for personal development, in business, to get a good job or to related in a globalized world that every day demands new competences.
We never or almost never hear about the benefits of learning a second language for our cognitive abilities, to prevent diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's. Popular myths say that languages must be learned in childhood, but it is never too late to learn and the contrary the benefits of learning a language such as English can be very large and our brain will be pleased with this.
RESEARCH
Learning languages delays brain aging.
Dr. Ellen Bialystok, professor of Psychology at the University of York in Toronto (Canada). Who has dedicated her career to the study of the effects of language knowledge in the mind, conducted a study with 450 patients with Alzheimer's.
All the people had the same age and the same level of symptoms, half of them had spoken two languages. The curious thing about this study is that the brains of the bilingual people, despite being atrophied by the same symptoms, responded better to the tests carried out in this study and also showed a lower cerebral degeneration.
Based on this study conducted by one of the most important universities, I can infer that although Alzheimer's is a disease that can affect a large part of the world population, there are tools that reduce symptoms and delay the loss of cognitive abilities. That is why the importance of learning a new language, it should not be framed in just looking for jobs or better opportunities, here we can see one of the great benefits for people in different stages of our life.
As we know the brain must be preserved in the best possible conditions and so that it must be properly exercised.
Learning another language can make us more creative, make better decisions, solve challenges, among many other things. In addition, it is necessary to emphasize that age is not an obstacle to exercise our mind and learn another language, but many people believe they are very old and never try to learn. there are studies and researches that say that it is easier to learn a second language when someone is a child because the brain of children is more flexible when absorbing information but knowing another language an adult age is not impossible and the benefits will be important.
In addition to all mentioned benefits, the study of a second language gives us the ability to enlarge the way to understand the world in a more general way, this builds intercultural points of view, that is why learning of a different language is recommended in children from an early age.
CONCLUSION
As I said, the knowledge of a second language besides giving us the possibility of having better opportunities in today's world, every day the science gives us more evidence to show that learning a second language is not only a big advantage for our life, but also an essential training to keep our brain healthy.
Finally, the science and the experience tell us that studying English not only makes us able to talk with many people around the world, improve our professional career, this is also the best training to ensure the health of our brain in the future. Also, is necessary to remember that you are never too old to learn a second language it does not matter if you are 5 years old or 60 years old.