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The hidden benefits of language learning
T he immediate benefit of learning a foreign language is obvious: you learn how to understand and express yourself in a different language and you become able to talk to people who do not speak your native tongue. But the advantages go far beyond this. You will find that you improve your overall performance in daily life and at work. Here are just a few examples of how speaking two or more languages benefits the cognitive process. 1. Decision-making Research has shown that people working in a foreign language are better at decision-making. Psychologists at the University of Chicago, led by Boaz Keysar, wondered if people would make the same decision in a foreign language as they would in their native tongue. The intuitive answer would be ‘yes, of course’. You could even think that the difficulty of using a foreign language would make decisions less systemic. Yet, the opposite is true. To demonstrate that using a foreign language reduces decision-making biases, the researchers divided a group of native English-speakers who also spoke Japanese into two. Those who were tested in their foreign language (Japanese) made less risky, more balanced and rational choices than those tested in English. These loss-aversion tests were based on the theory of Nobel Prize Winner, Daniel Kahneman, who has posited two general systems of thinking.
‘System 1’ is intuitive, quick, and used by the brain wherever possible to minimise effort. ‘System 2’ is deliberative and slow, and better suited for modern-life problems but demands more effort to activate and keep active. Speaking a foreign language appears to activate System 2 in advance of tackling a tricky problem, heightening
from one system to the other, you train your power to disengage your attention from one thing and move it to another. You become more aware of the world. 3. Creativity Bilingual individuals have demonstrated great creative skills in different arts. When learning a second language you dig deep into the mechanics, patterns, structures and syntax of the second language and confront them with your own language, thus strengthening your ability for complex thinking and your understanding of the relationships between things. Language determines the way we look at reality, and you will realise that there are different ways to understand our world. Learning a second language helps you to develop new experiences, new thoughts, new visions and new solutions. Bilingualism is a great way to experience diversity. And diversity fuels creativity. Recent studies into the benefits of language learning are less explicit, now acknowledging that the varying ways people use their language have different effects. Yet, learning a second language is always beneficial and, with modern technology, it has never been easier. If you have transitioned to working from home, as many of us have done, why not use the time otherwise spent commuting and in meetings to learn a foreign language? You’ll find a way to use it to your advantage. Antje Vogdt is a publications and content manager with a passion for learning languages.
deliberation as demonstrated in the experiments. The researchers
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therefore believe that a second language provides useful cognitive distance from automatic processes and unthinking, emotional reactions (those activated in System 1) and promotes more analytical thought (System 2). 2. Multitasking and focusing The so-called ‘executive functions’ of the brain – which we might think of as being like the CEO – are a set of mental skills that help the brain organise and act on information. Multitasking is one of the things that these skills handle. In a study led by researchers at York University in Toronto, monolinguals and bilinguals were put in a driving simulator. Through headphones, they received extra tasks to do – everybody’s driving got worse, but those who spoke more than one language made fewer errors in their driving, as they were more able to stay focused. Multilingual people are constantly ‘juggling’ between two systems of speech, writing and structure, a kind of constant mental exercise. This ability to switch helps them to filter the most essential information at any given time. As you switch from one language to the other,
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