Learning a new language can be difficult. In schools all around the world, students are taught foreign languages. Maybe the students will never use the language in their actual lives, but colleges often require students to take up to 3 years of language. Many people believe that this is unnecessary, but you can increase your memory and attention span, cognitive functions, and problem-solving skills by doing so. 

Memorizing materials is extremely difficult for most students, especially in a different language, but there are many proven benefits for your memory from this. According to  Dan Roitman of Pimsleur in the Huffington Post, “Because the language centers in the brain are so flexible, learning a second language can develop new areas of your mind and strengthen your brain's natural ability to focus, entertain multiple possibilities, and process information.” You can become significantly smarter by just studying a different language. Your brain actually grows in size. A Swedish experiment was conducted with two groups of students to prove this. One group was made of students studying language, while the other group was students who only spoke one language. The MRI scans of the students showed that the brain size of the participants studying languages increased in size, while the brains of the other group remained the same size. As well as your memory, your attention span can also be affected positively by being able to speak more than one language. Switching languages frequently keeps your brain alert to situations and stays focused. This creates better thinking skills and success in students and workers.

As children, learning two languages can increase your cognitive skills. Those are skills in which the brain develops to think, read, learn, and process information. In 2009, Agnes Kovacs of the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, led a study to prove that being bilingual can benefit your cognitive functions. The study was conducted with a group of 7-month-old children that were raised in a bilingual household compared to 7-month-old children who were raised in a single language household. The children in a bilingual environment had overall greater cognitive functions than those in a single language environment. A second language also can help with your cognitive functions at an older age. When you get older, you may get diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia. They can decrease your cognitive functions, but bilingual people have a slower decline. It creates a thing called “cognitive reserve.” This is where your brain enhances the use of brain networks to keep your brain active while growing older. This means bilingualism can slow down the progression of brain cell disintegration, therefore keeping you sharper at an elderly age. Even though you think learning a new language will not be beneficial to you now, in the future, you will wish you did. 

Do you ever have trouble solving a problem asked to you by a teacher or a friend? Studies have shown that bilingual people often have an easier time with problem solving and multitasking. This is because bilingual or multilingual people often have to shift their way of thinking. They may think in one language but have to do something in the other. This creates a multitasking skill for the person. It also develops a different way of seeing the world, which can later be used to figure many things out. This skill creates opportunities and better work skills for the bilingual person. 

Overall, while learning a new language might not seem important to some, there are many great benefits. In addition to communicating with more people, it can lead to increased memory and attention span, as well as better cognitive functions and problem solving skills. These benefits can improve your way of thinking and create new opportunities for you in the future. Furthermore, those who do not take a language do not need to be discouraged; you can start learning anytime you want to make a difference in life. 

Works Cited

Marian, Viorica, and Anthony Shook. "The cognitive benefits of being bilingual." Cerebrum : the Dana forum on brain science vol. 2012 (2012): 13.

Ostaz. www.ostaz.com/english/blog/eu-blogs/benefits-of-learning-a-new-language#:~:text=Language%20skills%20boost%20one's%20problem,listening%20skills%2C%20and%20enhanced%20concentration.

Tanenhaus MK, Magnuson JS, Dahan D, Chambers C. Eye movements and lexical access in spoken-language comprehension: Evaluating a linking hypothesis between fixations and linguistic processing. Journal of Psycholinguistic

Telc. Jan. 2021, www.telc.net/en/about-telc/news/detail/how-does-learning-a-new-language-improve-your-brain.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CBecause%20the%20language%20centers%20in,another%20post%20on%20the%20site. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022.

Whitby. www.whitbyschool.org/passionforlearning/learning-a-new-language-helps-brain-development. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022.