Aran has been unduly modest and has failed to mention that membership of SSi and the SSi Growth Club virtually guarantees an eternal and healthy life
Justin
See -
Ellen Bialystok at York University in Canada has found that speaking two languages delayed dementia diagnosis by five years. Those who knew three languages, however, were diagnosed 6.4 years later than monolinguals, while for those fluent in four or more languages, enjoyed an extra nine years of healthy cognition.
Good article!
Brilliant! So, another couple of languages to go and I can keep my marbles. The wife’ll be pleased 
Thanks, Justin.
Have they studied the adverse effect children have? can I learn enough languages to completely offset the marbles the darling kids make me lose??
That was an interesting read - thanks for sharing it. I can certainly use all the healthy cognition I can get! 
A quote from the article:
“The important thing, he says, is to try to imitate without even considering the spelling of the words. “Everyone can listen and repeat,” he says.”
Does this sound familiar to anyone at SSiW? 
Diolch yn fawr! The next time somebody tries to imply that my passion for learning languages (especially the rare ones) derives from the fact that I’ve got too much free time on my hands and that I should be doing something more useful instead, I’ll point them in this direction:)
A question was raised by some scientists as to whether the York University study sample of people who were multilingual were part of a privileged group who were highly educated and affluent - which might partly explain their relative immunity to dementia.
A further study by the American Academy For Neurology has found
Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status
Long Live SSi ,
Justin
www.neurology.org/.../01.wnl.0000436620.33155.a4 -
Authors of the Study>
Suvarna Alladi, DM, Thomas H. Bak, MD, Vasanta Duggirala, PhD, Bapiraju Surampudi, PhD, Mekala Shailaja, MA, Anuj Kumar Shukla, MPhil, Jaydip Ray Chaudhuri, DM and Subhash Kaul, DM
And from ‘‘Annals of Neurology’’
Bak said in the release. “These findings are of considerable practical relevance. Millions of people around the world acquire their second language later in life. Our study shows that bilingualism, even when acquired in adulthood, may benefit the aging brain.”
Justin
Source: Bak T, Nissan J, Allerhand M, Deary I. Does Bilingualism Influence Cognitive Aging? Annals of Neurology. 2014.
I must be special case which doesn’t fit into results of this research obviously …
Me too, Tatjana. I think it’s having the opposite effect!
I started to learn Welsh for exactly this reason. My progress is hardly dramatic, but it is slowly happening. It’s a bit of a race really, between SSIW and the Grim Reaper.
C’mon SSiW!
And thanks for the gallows humour - my favourite kind 
There’s a programme that’s sometimes on Radio Cymru where people choose music for their funeral.
Listening to (or perhaps appearing on) this programme might be like a kind of each-way bet.
Let’s see if Stephen Fry mentions this on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 1st Sep 9:00am, repeated at 9:30pm the same day, the programme is Fry’s English Delight and he will ‘look at the benefits of being bilingual, bolstered by research suggesting people who speak two languages are often more attentive and better at decision-making’.
Hmmmm … 
You’re making this up about Radio Cymru, aren’t you? That’s weird!
Anyway, I’ve already picked The Ashokan Farewell.
No, not at all! I’m not sure if the series is still on however. I’ve noticed that series in RC tend to be fairly short. I think the guests are usually musical celebs.
I didn’t know it, but I’ve had a listen, and it’s very nice.
My current candidates include Status Quo “Slow Train”, "Gloria Gaynor “I Will Survive”, and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. But it’s a fluid list …
Mind you, with my luck, for the middle one, they might play this version:
I will survive
EPIC!
Wonderful choice, love that tune.
More evidence of the SSIW effect on delayed onset of dribbling and love of Murdoch propaganda😀http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/learning-second-language-can-delay-ageing-of-the-brain-say-scientists-a6873796.html