The Bilingual Brain

The Additional Benefits of Language Study

As global connections around the world grow, languages and the human brain have become a fascinating topic of study. It has become clear that language acquisition benefits the learner in ways beyond communication and cultural insight; learning a new language can sharpen your overall thinking.

Past studies have shown that knowing a world language closely correlates with having a healthy brain. Language students often demonstrate comparably higher standardized test scores and improved mental flexibility. As a person grows older, a second language can even fortify his or her brain against Alzheimer’s.

Just this week, the Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog reported on a new discovery about the benefits of multilingualism. Researchers at Northwestern University have examined how the rewired patterns of a bilingual mind could affect a person’s ability to focus clearly. After all, having two languages in your head requires continuous exercise in mental juggling. The study considered two groups of teenagers: one group bilingual in Spanish and English, the other group monolingual in English, and tested their abilities to discern particular speech sounds. The researchers found that “the nervous system of a bilingual person responds to sound in a way that is distinctive from a person who speaks only one language.” WSJ’s blog likened language acquisition to mastering a musical instrument. Both pursuits involve steady practice and, over time, mental rewiring that could improve a person’s thinking capacity.

We were happy to read this article during a week that celebrates the second anniversary of the Middlebury Interactive Languages partnership. Have you discovered other articles about language study? Please share them below!