Learning a second language

The i newspaper today page 4. Slainte! Learning Gaelic can help delay ageing. ( this will apply to Welsh or any other language)
A study of retired people doing an intensive language course of five hours a day found improvements in other mental abilities. But retired people like me knew this already!!.
Brian

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There was also a brief article in the New Scientist last week (6th February): ā€œLanguage - Nine big questions about the trait that makes us humanā€. It summarises recent research and suggests that learning another language can change how your brain is wired and make your brain more resilient -putting off dementia and recovering from a stroke more fully.

There are other interesting sections on whether language can influence how we see the world, shape your personality, saving endangered languages and the spread of English around the world could lead to native English speakers losing control of the language!

I donā€™t usually buy the New Scientist, but seeing something about languages on the front caught my attention.

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I read once that learning to play an instrument has the same effect :slight_smile: I would think learning to sing a song in Welsh while learning to play it on piano or guitar or whatever would actually make you go back in time lol

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Thatā€™s exactly why I decided to learn Welshā€¦ to try and keep my brain ā€˜young.ā€™ So I guess Iā€™m vindicated. :grinning: (Although some may say Iā€™m more childish than young for 44.)

But itā€™s had another side effect, the verb-first grammar & passive possession have helped me look at my job differently. Iā€™m a programmer, and taking the emphasis from Noun to Verb helps a lot when talking to usersā€¦ since what they are doing is typically as important (or more important than) the items/data they are acting on.

[I was also hoping for help with a slight stress-related stutterā€¦ but so far no dice on that front.]

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Bloody youngstersā€¦:wink: