Many scientific experiments and studies have shown that language affects thinking and the process of cognition. More importantly, it is knowledge of a foreign language that determines how a person looks at the world and how he perceives it. And if you are lucky enough to know more than one language, then you can rejoice: you have several pictures of the world!
What does studying give foreign languages? First of all, the opportunity to penetrate into another cultural environment. Because of this, we can lead incredibly rich lives. It's not just about travel - although here, we must pay tribute, language plays a huge role.
Let's remember Sumerian, ancient Greek or Latin. Now there is not a single representative of these ancient civilizations. But their languages continue to be studied. And all because it is language that allows us to understand how these people lived and what kind of world surrounded them.
Bilingualism- knowledge of two languages and the ability to communicate successfully with them (even with minimal knowledge of languages).
Here are 6 other important reasons to learn foreign languages.
The volume of the brain increases with the learning of each new foreign word. Some Scientific research showed that translators who engaged in in-depth language learning for three months had increased gray matter volume. And this volume increased proportionally depending on how hard the translator tried.
Not the entire brain increases, but only some of its areas - the hippocampus and several areas of the cerebral cortex.
However, in the course of learning foreign languages, the quality of neural connections increases. Regular reading, solving crossword puzzles, listening - all this allows the neural network to develop all the time that you devote to a foreign language.
Why? As soon as you switch (in thoughts or speech) to another foreign language, your brain switches to a different code. This is a difficult task for him. Therefore, the more often you perform it, the stronger the “muscles” of the brain are strengthened - just like in a regular gym.
Age also matters: young people have more plastic brains, so learning is easier for them. Hence the advice: start learning a foreign language from a young age - the benefits will be greater.
Scientists have found that it is better for the brain to speak several foreign languages superficially than to know one, but perfectly.
Bilinguals (speakers of two or more foreign languages) can rejoice: dementia, which occurs as a result of Alzheimer's syndrome, will occur for them at least 5 years later than for others.
Neuropsychologists have made such strange and useful conclusions. They compared the course of the disease in ordinary people and in those who had mastered foreign languages.
The study involved 211 people, 109 of whom did not bother to learn at least one language, and 102 patients spoke at least two. We already know the result - bilinguals begin to suffer from this disease 4.3 years later than ordinary people.
In addition, scientists have found that any complex exercise has a positive effect on the brain, not just learning foreign languages. So, do math, regularly solve complex crossword puzzles, play logic games, solve puzzles - all this will help slow down the development of the syndrome.
Scientists note that curing this disease is many times more difficult than preventing it. Therefore, do not be lazy and practice prevention.
Memory development when learning a foreign language is not the only advantage. If you have always considered yourself to be one of those who have had a bear in their ear, learn a foreign language.
Once you start learning Chinese, you will eventually see that the sound “s” is not “s” at all, but 3 (!) completely different sounds. But the Chinese, in the course of studying the Russian language, will discover many intonations that are absent in the Chinese language.
By studying a foreign language, a person learns to better recognize melody, intonation and sounds. This helps you master a particular musical instrument faster and better. Of course, here we need to give credit not so much to the ears as to the brain - it is the brain, and not the hearing organs, that is responsible for recognizing music.
Do you want to know if you are capable of learning foreign languages? Go through our.
Anyone who knows one or more foreign languages switches from one task to another without any problems. And that is not all. Such people adapt much more easily to changes in life.
And it was proven that way. During the experiment, the subjects were ordinary people and bilinguals different ages. Both were offered the same groups of tests.
The results of the experiment confirmed scientific guesses: the difference between older bilinguals and young bilinguals was much smaller than in the group of people who knew only one language. The experiment revealed that with age, bilinguals retain their multitasking abilities much better.
Scientists were also able to find out that bilingual children do better mental math, read better, and do many other things better. Bilinguals are also better at capturing and remembering sequences. All this allows bilinguals to navigate familiar terrain better than others and keep a large to-do list in their heads.
Such abilities come to bilinguals by the age of 5-7 and remain with them for life.
Bilinguals have especially highly developed attention, not only in relation to some particular phenomenon, but also to its details.
It is incredibly easy for them to guess what kind of relationships reign in the new team, once they get there.
There is still one drawback to learning foreign languages: bilinguals speak their native language worse than those who speak only one language.
True, there are advantages here too: people who speak several foreign languages better understand the grammar, morphology, phonetics and semantics of their native language.
Why else learn foreign languages? How else can you watch your favorite TV series or read the original work of your favorite writer? True, a legitimate question immediately arises: why?
And translators are not magicians: sometimes there are simply no Russian-language analogues of a word or expression, and here fantasy and lexicon translator, and this tandem does not always give good results.
If you already know one foreign language, but don’t want to stop there, then learn a second one!
The question is subjective, so there is no clear answer. For example, is it possible to divide languages into interesting and not so interesting? Also, interest in a particular language varies depending on which language is your native one.
And yet, let's try to speculate which languages will be easier and more difficult for us, Russian-speaking representatives of the population, to master.
By the way! For our readers there is now a 10% discount on
Russian language belongs eastern branch Slavic language group. The closest to it are Belarusian and Ukrainian language. All representatives of this group have approximately the same grammar, vocabulary and writing system.
South Slavic branch represented by Serbian, Bulgarian, Croatian languages. They are similar to Russian, but with their own peculiarities in grammar. Here the emphasis is placed differently, and the time system is more complex. In addition, these languages have unstressed particles that are used according to certain rules.
West Slavic branch represented by Polish and Czech languages, which are even more different from Russian. Both of these languages use the Latin alphabet, as well as unique superscripts with complex rules consumption.
Despite the similarity of some words with their Russian counterparts, as a rule, they have the exact opposite meaning. For example, in Czech “stale” means “fresh”, “terrible” means “wonderful”, vegetables mean “fruit”.
Despite the apparent simplicity of the Polish language, it is considered one of the most complex in the world. For example, in grammar, the number of exceptions to the rules for memorization is much greater than the rules themselves. And although there are only 7 cases, they are not easy to understand. Pronunciation of the Polish language is no less difficult.
It is considered the most used in the world Spanish , because it is used not only in Spain, but throughout Latin America and Mexico. Spanish has fairly simple grammar. Reading and writing are also not a problem. This language is especially popular among diplomats and specialists from the field of international tourism.
IN Italian There are also few difficulties: the absence of cases and simple pronunciation make it easier to learn. Italian sounds incredibly beautiful. Moreover, it is the language of art! It is also actively used in the fields of architecture, design and fashion. Don't forget about Italian cuisine and cars.
Quite a few words French are similar to words from English, so it is also considered simple. French gained particular popularity in the 18th century, but does not lose its popularity to this day. He is classified as international languages, and is also considered one of the languages of art and fashion.
English language know, if not everyone, then very many. Studying it will not pose any particular problems, because it has no cases, word agreements and no concept of gender. English has a fairly easy grammar, although it has its own nuances (significant differences in pronunciation and spelling of words, use irregular verbs etc.).
German not so common, although more recently it was the second most popular. And yet this is one of most important languages in area innovative technologies. But here the grammar becomes very difficult.
Icelandic - ancient language. For many centuries it has remained virtually unchanged due to the fact that Iceland is an isolated island state. Here you can find words, declensions and cases that have long fallen out of use in other languages.
Icelandic is considered one of the most difficult languages to pronounce. There are sounds here that only native speakers can pronounce correctly, no matter how much you pore over textbooks and practice.
Don't believe that the Icelandic language is incredibly difficult? Then try quickly pronouncing a completely ordinary Icelandic word - the name of the local volcano - Eyjafjallajökull.
It will be unusual for us to learn these languages for several other reasons: verbs are placed in last place, prepositions are absent altogether, postpositions are used instead of prepositions, etc. Should I mention the incredibly difficult pronunciation?
If you want to study Finnish language, be prepared for a system of 15 cases. In addition, hundreds of conjugations and personal forms of the verb are waiting for you. However, hot Finnish guys can do it. The good news: here the word is both heard and written, there is no concept of gender, and there are no problems with stress - the first syllable will always be stressed.
WITH Hungarian language It’s also not that simple – there’s a huge number of cases waiting for you (35 cases, Karl!). Foreigners find it difficult to learn pronunciation. It will be difficult to understand a Hungarian, since his speech will certainly be decorated with an abundance of expressive phraseological units.
Arabic distinguished by falsity in the study of writing. Arabic script is not only complex in itself, but you should always remember that Arabs write from right to left. Moreover, depending on the position of the letters, the meaning of the word will immediately change (there are 4 spelling options in total). Vowels are not used in writing.
There are only 3 tenses in Arabic grammar. However, the present time has 13 forms.
Meanwhile, know Arabic very useful, because it is spoken in more than 30 countries. True, every country has its own Arabic due to the variety of dialects.
Classical Arabic, in which the Qur'an was written, is greatly protected these days. And the generally accepted literary Arabic language is used to teach foreigners.
IN Chinese a huge number of hieroglyphs - ancient symbols that must be carefully drawn. Even the slightest squiggle has a special meaning that can give an expression a radically different meaning.
The easiest thing about Chinese is the grammar, and the most difficult thing is the pronunciation. Chinese is a tonal language, so special rules of intonation must be used when pronouncing. Using the wrong tone turns what is being said on its head. To learn or not to learn Chinese is a personal matter for everyone, but it is worth familiarizing yourself with a couple of weighty arguments in favor of this foreign language.
A similar complex system of hieroglyphs exists in Japanese . However, there are 3 writing systems with their own alphabet each.
This is what they are, these incredibly complex and at the same time simple foreign languages. The benefits of studying them are obvious, and the advantages that knowing a particular language gives us will certainly come in handy in later life. Moreover, this is how we get to know and understand another culture, immerse ourselves in a foreign language atmosphere and begin to understand our foreign brothers.
If you do not understand some complex aspect of the language, and write a test, coursework or independent work oh well, then take real linguists to help you and sleep peacefully - they will understand everything for you.
When you ask a person why he studies a foreign language, you subconsciously prepare for the obvious answers: for work, study, travel abroad, pleasure, everyone learns, that’s what I want.
And then suddenly a completely unfamiliar young man said: “I’m learning French because my creativity is off the charts, my brain thinks faster, and, by the way, I heard somewhere that it prevents the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.” At first glance, the answer seems ridiculous, although this is far from true. By learning a foreign language, you really become smarter and begin to think from a different angle.
Let's break it down and see why people who learn a foreign language have much more advantages.
Communicating on native language, we almost never think about the grammatical structure of a sentence or the correctness of stress. Everything happens “automatically”, because our main idea is to convey the idea to the interlocutor. When you try to write or speak a foreign language, you focus on word order, tenses, or parts of speech. Understanding how sentences are structured, for example, in English, you suddenly realize that your native language also has structures and rules: your speech becomes clearer and more understandable.
A study from Northwestern University in the United States found that bilinguals can more easily pick up a person's voice among extraneous sounds. This increased attentiveness, according to scientists, helps you better concentrate on what your client, boss or employee is saying. That is, the ability to listen and hear is an invaluable skill with a real monetary value.
The young man who “learns French because his creativity is off the charts” is absolutely right. When speaking a foreign language, you are in constant search. Words in your native language are naturally combined into sentences without much effort on your part. Constructing an utterance in a foreign language requires greater awareness. A study published last year found that studying improves three dimensions of creativity: verbal fluency, flexibility and originality of thinking.
According to medical research, the first signs of mental aging appear in monolinguals at least 5 years earlier than in bilinguals. And this is not surprising. Very often the brain is compared to a muscle that needs to be constantly developed. Learning a foreign language involves memorizing a huge amount of information, which means our “mental muscle” gets the exercise it needs. People with knowledge of two or more foreign languages can boast better memory. The results of numerous studies for many years have shown one thing: bilinguals are better at remembering lists and sequences of actions, such as shopping lists, names and directions.
Want to make more informed decisions? foreign languages. According to research, people who think in English, for example, are more likely to weigh the pros and cons before making a final decision. It turns out that “thinking” in your native language is associated with quick and emotional decision making. When a person thinks about the same problem in a foreign language, the decision is based more on logic than emotion. So the next time you have to make an important decision, think about it in English.
Conclusion: To learn to think from a different angle, actively communicate with clients, partners and employees; To slow down the aging process and start making wise decisions, just start learning a foreign language.
Natalya Kalyuzina,
Deputy Director for Academic Affairs
Learning a language is hard work. No matter what methods you use or how much language learning experience you already have, this work requires commitment. You wouldn't do it without strong motivation.
Of course, we know that the benefit of foreign languages is the ability to read books, watch movies and communicate with native speakers, but beyond that, learning languages opens up new cultures, sharpens your mind and generally makes everything around you awesome.
What you may not know is that over the past couple of decades, inquisitive researchers trying to figure out what effects learning languages have on the brain have discovered several unexpected effects.
It turns out that learning languages changes you in ways that are hard to imagine, but you don't have to worry - these changes are for the better.
Maybe you haven’t noticed yet, but your step has become more cheerful, your smile has become more radiant and mysterious since you began to gnaw on the granite of science, comprehending a foreign language. And it's not just new shoes and toothpaste.
It turns out that bilinguals are more relaxed and easier to find mutual language. Bilingual children are less anxious, have higher self-esteem, suffer less from loneliness and depression, fight less and are less likely to get angry. In short, they are less susceptible to stress than their monolingual counterparts.
It's not yet clear why a second language makes such a difference, but researchers believe that the ability to understand and interact with multiple cultures may give children a broader emotional perspective, which helps them remain happy and more balanced. The same applies to adult students. So, if you want less arguments with your children, sign them up for some linguistic group.
If a duck is raised with a flock of dogs, will it quack or bark?
This question and others like it (for example, would an English child raised in a Spanish family speak English or Spanish) were asked to a group of 5-6 year old children in the hope of understanding the child's understanding of human nature. Those children who viewed people's nature as innate and unchangeable were more likely to say that a duck would quack, while those who believed that people's nature changes in response to change environment, as a rule, they answered that the duck would bark.
It is interesting that it is knowledge of a second language that determines children’s view of people’s adaptability to environmental conditions. Monolingual children say that the duck will quack, bilingual children will bark.
The truth, of course, is somewhere in the middle. The duck, of course, will never bark (and the dogs will most likely just eat the duck for lunch), but English children adopted into a Spanish family will speak fluent Spanish. But the fact that bilingual children can perceive human nature completely differently is important in itself.
According to research, being able to speak two languages causes something like a split personality, but in a good way. It turned out that bilinguals can be slightly (and sometimes significantly) different people, depending on what language they speak.
For example, women who speak Spanish and English languages people tend to consider themselves more assertive and extroverted when they speak Spanish than when they speak English.
One possible explanation for these personality changes is that people have to interact with different cultural associations associated with languages. Every culture has its own set of expectations for how people will act and express themselves in different situations. Therefore, women who speak Spanish feel more assertive, which is the norm in Spanish-speaking culture.
The ability to speak several languages allows you to communicate with big amount of people. But it turns out that learning languages makes you a better communicator overall, including in the area of nonverbal communication.
One study tested children's ability to communicate effectively while taking into account other people's wishes and found that bilingual children, as well as bilingual children who had significant exposure to other languages, were better communicators and were quicker to understand other people's intentions. 
The fact that bilingual children are more effective communicators is consistent with what researchers already know about communication skills, namely that bilinguals rely more on nonverbal communication in their second language and therefore develop good non-verbal communication skills in general. But another surprising study found that these same patterns play a role in bilinguals' online communication.
In particular, bilinguals tend to use more emoticons when communicating online in their second language than monolinguals communicating in the same language. Meanwhile, emoticons are the computer equivalent of non-verbal communication!
It's likely that bilinguals add more emoticons for the same reason that they rely more on non-verbal communication in a real conversation - nonverbal communication helps fill gaps in the language in which they are not as comfortable expressing themselves. As language learners, we can take solace in the fact that although we sometimes feel like we are fighting an uphill battle trying to express our thoughts in a foreign language, this struggle ultimately makes us better at verbal and non-verbal communication.
Tell me: what color is the sky?
If we speak English and the day is sunny, then the answer will be - the sky is blue. But things change a little if we switch to another language.
In Japanese, for example, light blue and dark blue are more likely different colors than variations of the same color.
The Japanese make a greater distinction between the two shades of blue than the English, and English-Japanese bilinguals fall somewhere in the middle depending on how often they use each of the languages.
And people from cultures that don't have words for blue have difficulty telling the difference between blue and green. On the other hand, they can easily distinguish subtle shades of green, which is quite difficult for most English people.
When you learn a language, you literally learn a new way of seeing the world. This doesn't just apply to color differences, which are specific and relatively easy to learn. The languages you speak influence your thoughts and perceptions in many other ways. Thus, you can add whatever you want to the list of reasons to learn a foreign language “learn to think and perceive reality in a new way”.
Learning a language is not cool. You know what's cool? Billion dollars.
Do you know what The best way get a billion dollars? Language learning. Something like this.
It turns out people think more rationally and make better financial decisions when they use non-native language. Compared to people who use their native language, people who work in a second language are less emotional, have less biased thinking, and are able to come up with better long-term strategic decisions.
We don't know why, but using less comfortable language forces you to think more rationally. It is possible that language learning in adults is less automatic, operating on a more rational part of the brain. Thus, this part of the brain is activated whenever a later acquired language is used (“late” means any age after age 12).
So you can add to your list of motivations for learning a language - become the next Mark Zuckerberg.
Sex, drugs, chocolate. The brain really, really loves all these things.
And scientists who know how to get pleasure from everything can hook you up to a brain scanner while you're doing one of these things and see that a certain part of your brain, known as the pleasure center, lights up like nothing else.
There are other activities that also make your brain active. The brain loves gambling, which many people get addicted to, contrary to common sense.
What is important for our purposes is that the brain loves to learn new words. Learning new words is like eating syrup-soaked chocolate cake.
And since learning new words is fun, learning a language in general can be considered like having Mr. Wonka's entire chocolate factory at your disposal. In other words, maybe the best motivation for learning a language is the fact that it is actually satisfying.
Of course, no one is going to encourage the use of illegal substances and gambling, but since that’s how the brain works, give it pleasure - learn new languages!
We learn foreign languages to succeed in our careers, to move to another country, or simply because we like the language and the culture of its speakers. Meanwhile, learning languages has enormous benefits for our psyche and brain development. It is curious that from this point of view, it is better to speak several languages imperfectly than to learn one foreign language thoroughly.
When you learn foreign languages, your brain grows, literally. More precisely, its individual areas are growing - the hippocampus and some areas of the cerebral cortex.
Researchers who published results of studying the brains of professional translators noted an increase in gray matter volume in those who engaged in in-depth language learning for at least three months. Moreover, the more effort a particular study participant made, the more noticeable was the increase in gray matter volume.
Bilinguals (speakers of two or more languages) benefit from an average of five years of reprieve from Alzheimer's dementia. This surprising result was arrived at by a team of neuropsychologists who compared the course of the disease in people who had mastered foreign languages and, conversely, in those who did not speak them.
Of the 211 study participants, 102 patients spoke at least two languages, and the remaining 109 did not bother to learn any language other than their native one. Having studied the course of the disease in representatives of these two categories, scientists came to the conclusion that in the first category the first signs of the syndrome were diagnosed on average 4.3 years later, and the state of dementia that its development led to was diagnosed 5.1 years later than in the second category.
Those who speak multiple languages adapt more quickly and easily to unexpected changes in circumstances
Previously, doctors expressed the opinion that increased brain development slows down the development of Alzheimer's syndrome. We are not necessarily talking about learning languages; math classes, regular solving of complex puzzles, and logic games are also suitable. The mentioned study was one of the first confirmations of this hypothesis. Note that the preventive effect that learning languages has is much stronger than any medicinal methods therapy for this disease.
Learning a foreign language forces the brain to discover an abundance of sounds that it previously did not bother to isolate and differentiate. A European learning Chinese is surprised to discover that what he thought was the sound “s” is actually three completely different sounds. A Chinese learner of Russian discovers that in terms of the richness of intonation changes within sentences, this language can give odds to the tonal diversity of the Chinese syllable.
A person who masters a foreign language learns to recognize sounds much better - and subsequently makes more noticeable progress in mastering musical instruments. However, you shouldn’t thank your ears for improving your musical abilities - the main job of recognizing sounds is done by the brain, not the hearing organs.
Those who speak multiple languages are able to more easily switch between tasks and solve several different problems in their minds at the same time. In addition, they adapt more quickly and easily to unexpected changes in circumstances.
The authors of the study, who established this fact, conducted two experiments. In the first, bilinguals and people who know only their native language were offered a series of tests, the results of which revealed that bilinguals are better at simultaneous performance of several tasks and the transition from tasks of one type to tasks of a completely different, new one.
The second experiment was more complicated: in it, tests were offered to monolinguals and bilinguals of different age groups. The result that young people solved better was quite expected. logic problems than people 45-50 years old and older. However, among bilinguals, the difference between young, mature and elderly was not so pronounced: as it turned out, bilinguals with age better retain the ability to solve simultaneously complex tasks. True, in order to achieve such abilities, it is advisable to learn languages from childhood, researchers note.
Children who grew up in a multilingual environment have much better memory than those who have heard only their native speech since childhood. Moreover, as the researchers found, this usually means that they are better at mental math, reading and other similar skills.
Bilinguals grasp on the fly the essence of interaction between people in the new team they have just joined
Bilingual children also better remember the sequence of any objects and events - which allows them, for example, to navigate unfamiliar terrain much more confidently, and also to more firmly hold in their heads the list of things that need to be done. The difference appears already at 5-7 years of age, and apparently persists for life.
Society often portrays foreign language experts as some kind of absent-minded “nerds,” but this stereotype seems to be far from the truth. On the contrary, it is bilinguals who are distinguished by stronger attention both to the main essence of any important phenomenon and to its details. For example, they grasp on the fly the essence of interaction between people in a new team they have just joined.
Another stereotype - people who learn several languages know their native language less well - is partly true: it turns out that their native language vocabulary, on average, is actually narrower than that of those who do not know any other speech other than their native one. At least if we're talking about about people without higher education who have learned a foreign language simply due to their multicultural environment. However, bilinguals in any case have a more developed understanding of the logic of their native language - in particular, grammar and methods of word formation.
They say that the number of languages you know, the more times you HUMAN. And indeed it is.
IN modern world there is a need to learn a foreign language. Knowledge of at least one language is a definite advantage. For many reasons, people learn foreign languages.
The main advantages are:
In many areas of activity there is a need to know at least one or two foreign languages (English, German). Most foreign companies want to see their employees with high level language. And this is understandable, since, from year to year, more and more international firms appear that cooperate with foreign companies. Thanks to your language skills, you will be able to find a promising job, as well as make a good career and get a job abroad.
When traveling abroad, you will certainly need to know the language to communicate with foreigners. This will help you overcome the language barrier and become one of the strangers.
If it happens that there will be foreigners at a business meeting, the impression you make with your competent speech can lead to successful business cooperation.
It has been proven that the process of learning a language contributes to the development of mental abilities. This means that you can easily master other subjects and sciences. After all, learning a language requires memorizing and understanding several thousand new words, concepts, expressions, as a result of which you train your memory, reaction and thinking. Knowledge of foreign languages trains memory and preserves it until old age.
Many books are translated, but there are also some that are not translated at all. Even those books that have been translated for you cannot convey the full meaning, the expression and depth that the author wanted to convey in his native language. Therefore, it is important to be able to read literature in the original, and not only books, but also newspapers, magazines, documents and much, much other information, in order to experience the beauty of the author’s writing. Specialized sites are also mostly in English. Knowledge of the language significantly increases the possibility of obtaining the necessary information.
The Internet has expanded communication capabilities like never before, so now you can easily communicate with a person anywhere in the world. And it is the knowledge of languages that will allow you to easily find friends abroad and expand your circle of acquaintances, thanks to which life becomes brighter, richer and more interesting.
By learning another language, you have the opportunity to perceive this world from a different point of view, immersing yourself in a different culture and mentality of the country of the language you are learning. One of our classics said: “A person who does not know a single foreign language does not know his own.” Open your eyes and you will see this world in new, bright colors.
If you want to learn foreign languages, you can start today!
