OTTAWA (Reuters) - People who are fully bilingual and speak both languages every day for most of their lives can delay the onset of dementia by up to four years compared with those who only know one language, Canadian scientists said on Friday.
Researchers said the extra effort involved in using more than one language appeared to boost blood supply to the brain and ensure nerve connections remained healthy – two factors thought to help fight off dementia.
“We are pretty dazzled by the results,” Professor Ellen Bialystok of Toronto’s York University said in a statement.
“In the process of using … two languages, you are engaging parts of your brain, parts of your mind that are active and need that kind of constant exercise and activity, and with that experience (it) stays more robust,” she later told CTV television.
I’m not surprised by those findings at all.
While I am far from being tri, or even bi-lingual, I do struggle daily to exercise my brain in French and Spanish. The mental effort involved is nearly palpaple. There is reason to press on, apart from my fantasy of being Data or C-3PO.
What amazes me is the many tri-lingual people here in Montreal. I live in a mostly Italian neighbourhood, and when I go to the stores and banks around here the cashiers will frequently talk to one customer in rapid-fire Italian (with no accent), then switch seamlessly to Québecois French to talk with another customer (again with no accent), and then to English (no accent) to speak with another. These are people who grew up speaking Italian at home with their parents, and French and English in school. I started too late to ever become truly bilingual, but my goal is to be able to speak both continental French (with my girlfriend, who’s from Brittany) and Québecois French (with her daughter, who was born here), with no accent. And then I want to learn Japanese!
Speaking a foreign language without any accent is terribly difficult. Living where I live I come in contact with a lot of bilingual people, but I hardly ever meet someone who is able to speak without an accent.
Speaking both continental French and Québecois seems almost impossible to me. I think I would slip from one to the other and vice versa without even noticing.
The language arts have never been my strong suit, and you have to play the hand that you were dealt with. I tried to learn German in college, and later I signed up for several classes in Spoken Spanish, only to drop out in embarassment because I was unable to speak correctly when called upon in class. My thought is that other than bilingualism there surely must be an easier way to ward off diment
Speaking a foreign language without any accent is terribly difficult. Living where I live I come in contact with a lot of bilingual people, but I hardly ever meet someone who is able to speak without an accent.
it is but it depends on how you acquire your language. My son (13) has fluent English and Dutch and a fair bit of Irish without accent (ignoring the strong Irish/Clare component of his English).
True about the languages, though. Same goes for oldsters who do puzzles, learn new music, actively pursue new hobbies or studies. Physical and mental exercise are both proven to help reduce severity and postpone onset of dementia. It’s one more reason to get off the couch, turn off the TV, and join the living!
My best second language is German but I really really don’t like it much anymore. I thought about finding a Mennonite husband so I could practice it more, but that never worked out. Hebrew is beautiful but basically useless for me in terms of speaking, although I love the deeper understanding of the Bible that Hebrew gives you (both Testaments).
