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The Brain Benefits of Learning a Second Language

By Deane Alban

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Learning a second language offers proven benefits for intelligence, memory, and concentration and lowered risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Understanding language is one of the hardest things your brain does.

The benefits of learning a second language seem, in fact, to be proportional to the effort expended by the brain.

Because language is complex, speaking or learning a foreign language gives your brain a good workout.

It’s good brain exercise that makes the brain stronger.

It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time when raising children in a bilingual home was believed to stunt their intellectual growth. (1)

Experts thought their brains would become confused and that it might even contribute to schizophrenia or split identities.

But times have changed.

We now understand that precisely the opposite is true.

It’s now known that learning another language is one of the most effective and practical ways to increase intelligence, keep your mind sharp, and buffer your brain against aging.

Here are the ways that speaking or learning a second language can benefit your brain, no matter your age.

Being Bilingual Improves Cognitive Skills and Overall Brain Function

A lot of research has been done on the effects of learning and speaking languages.

People who speak two or more languages have significantly better overall cognitive abilities than those who speak one. (2)

Compared to people that speak one language, adults who speak multiple languages are more likely to:

• have higher general intelligence (3)
• be better at planning, prioritizing, and decision making (4)
• score higher on standardized math, reading, and vocabulary tests (5)
• be more perceptive of their surroundings
• avoid falling for marketing hype 
• understand others’ points of view (6)
• have better focus, concentration, and attention (7)
• delay immediate gratification in the pursuit of long-term goals (8)
• have better memory and memorization skills, including better working memory (9)
• exhibit mental flexibility (10)
• switch between tasks quickly
• be creative (11)
• have good listening skills (12)

Learning a New Language Increases Brain Size and Connectivity

Learning a foreign language can increase the size of the brain’s language center and the hippocampus — the area of the brain responsible for forming, storing and retrieving memories. (13)

In one Swedish study, young military recruits were taught new languages.

By measuring their brains before and after the language training, researchers had a unique opportunity to observe what happens to the brain when learning a second language.

MRI brain scans showed that study participants increased the size of their hippocampus. (14)

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Studying a new language can also increase the number of neural pathways between parts of the brain.

In another study, English speakers’ brains were monitored as learned the Chinese vocabulary.

MRIs revealed that they developed better connectivity between different regions of their brains. (15)

Besides changes in brain function, there were also detectable changes in brain structure after six weeks.

This structural change was apparent even in the elderly, leading researchers to conclude that brain plasticity — the brain’s ability to constantly change and grow — is greater than previously realized.

Related article —
Brain Plasticity: The New Key to a Better Brain at Any Age

Knowing More Than One Language Protects Your Brain Against Aging

Knowing a second language can postpone the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s by 4.5 years. (16)

This is significantly better than the best Alzheimer’s drugs which can delay symptoms by only 6-12 months. (17)

Brains scans found a noticeable difference in brain activity of bilingual seniors.

Their brains worked much more efficiently, more like those of young adults. (18)

Scientists believe these seniors’ brains have more reserve brain power that helps compensate for age-related memory loss.

Interestingly, there is no correlation between the benefits of speaking two languages and literacy.

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There’s always been a question whether bilinguals stay mentally sharp due to overall better education, but this doesn’t seem to be the case.

Bilinguals who cannot read and write experience the same protective benefits against dementia as literate bilinguals. (19)

If knowing two languages is good for your brain, is knowing three or more even better?

It looks like that’s the case.

There is evidence that being multilingual offers even further protective benefits for the brain. (20)