Bilingualism Called Good for the Brain
Here's another reason for learning Spanish: People who are bilingual tend to become better at multitasking and setting priorities. And there's even evidence that using two languages can help stave off some of the mental effects often associated with old age, such as Alzheimer's and dementia.
So said speakers today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., according to a news release from Penn State.
The school quoted psychology professor Judith Kroll, the director of the Center for Language Science, as saying that bilingual people are better able to ignore extraneous information and focus on what's important.
She said that new studies run counter to earlier reports that bilingualism hinders cognitive development. ""The received wisdom was that bilingualism created confusion, especially in children," she said. "The belief was that people who could speak two or more languages had difficulty using either. The bottom line is that bilingualism is good for you."
Another speaker, Ellen Bialystok, a research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, said that the benefits of bilingualism appear across all age groups.
2 Answers
Now all I need to do is become bilingual!
I saw this today. You must have taken straight from About Spanish. It's nice to know I am doing something good for my brain. It is encouragement for me when I think about giving it up because I think I will never use it.
