Did you know that learning a new language reaps benefits for your brain?

I'm missing travel at the moment, my husband has just come back from a fabulous skiing holiday with friends in Morzine. My eldest has GCSEs this year and has decreed that we are not going anywhere in 2026 until after GCSEs. Thank goodness we snuck in a cheeky couple of days in Paris in December sans enfants!

Why is learning a language better for our brains than something like Sudoku?

Dr Thomas Bak compares it to going to a gym: Sudoku is like going to the gym and using one machine to repeat one movement. Learning a language, on the other hand, is like using 20 different machines which require lots of different movements. That’s because language learning engages a number of different parts of the brain and boosts the connectivity between these different areas. In turn, this improved connectivity improves your higher mental function.

I've never really got into Sudoku so it's a relief to know that my future does not depend upon me pouring over the Times Fiendish Sudoku quizzes like my husband. I'll stick to reading and language- based activities. I'll be honest though, as a woman of a certain age, sometimes the brain fog is not helped by knowing several languages. I'll suddenly lose a word and only know the word that I am thinking of in a different language, not really all that helpful! 

Wider benefits

Every 3 minutes in the UK, someone is diagnosed with dementia or has a stroke. Studies have suggested that learning a second language could delay the risk of dementia by up to 5 years, and that it can also improve the rate at which you recover from stroke.

Related Links

Study on language learning and the brain (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Studies on bilingualism and dementia (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)