Many of us are too daunted to even contemplate learning a new language – oftentimes our school linguistic experiences were sufficient to deter us from trying ever again!

Personally, I love learning languages, but even I struggle to find the energy and commitment to expand on what I have started, and even to keep my existing languages alive.  If you haven’t discovered this yet, you’ll find that languages once well spoken, can fast become rusty bits of knowledge lurking at the back of your brain if you stop using them.

My attempts to improve my Spanish failed last year when work and travel just got too much for me to get to my classes.  Had I known that learning a language could ward off dementia, maybe I would have persevered.

Yes, you did read that right.  A lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Thomas Bak,  conducted a study into the benefits of language learning and found that it had a significantly positive effect on delaying cognitive decline.  “It’s not the good memory that bilinguals have that is delaying cognitive decline.  It’s their attention mechanism. Their ability to focus in on the details of language.” he reported.  The especially good news here, is that you don’t have to be brilliant at languages to benefit; you don’t have to become fluent.  According to Dr Baks, “Just having the basics of those linguistic connections can delay dementia.”

Both Italian and Swahili are high on my list of languages yet to tackle.  I think I had get better working on them – before I forget that it’s good for me!

Copyright Debbie Smyth, 23 June 2015