但愿我们近期都不必为此担忧，但是衰老是我们所有人都要经历的。当大脑开始衰老时，学习一门新的语言可以预防阿尔茨海默氏症和老年痴呆症，或将其延缓约4年半。这比那些最好的药物要强大得多，药物最多只能延缓症状6-12个月。

4.更快的学习能力

2007年在马萨诸塞州进行的一项研究中，研究人员得出，通过语言学习进行的“解决认知问题的训练”，可直接应用于任何我们想学的东西中。学习一门新语言时，你的记忆力也会得到改善。吸收和保留更多的信息可以显著地缩短你的学习曲线，因为你花更多的时间来掌握新的信息，而不是重新学习你已经学过的东西。

5.性格更加外向，更受欢迎

语言学习不仅是用外语交流，也是体验一种新的文化。

首先，与外国人交流是语言学习的核心。为了练习和提高所学的新语言，你需要和外籍英语教师学习，进行对话交流或者参加语言聚会。这就像骑自行车，你要亲自去骑车，而不能只看骑车教程视频，看只是整个过程的一部分。

与会话伙伴交流的经验与和其他人交往在本质上并无差别。交流和社交技能会直接影响到你生活的其他领域。最重要的是，学习一门新语言有助于让你处在与你不同的人的位置，可以使你从截然不同的角度看世界——由此与他人产生共鸣。

6.创造力加倍

我们常常不得不把一些字词一遍又一遍地拼凑成句子，直到句子合适，并且让人明白。学习一门新的语言可以提高你的发散思维能力，训练你在解决问题的基础上想出多种解决方案。研究人员通过“打破常规”这个实验得出结论，会多语种的人比只会单语种的人更有创造力。

7.增加你的自信心

当我们开始去做一件事并获得成功时，无论多么小的成功，都可以增强我们的自信心。即使能够和母语是外语的人交谈30秒，你的信心都能大大提高，因为你知道，你已经做到了之前本来做不到的事。

这种“是的，我能行！”的积极心态会成为你的个人口号，而且可以在你追求想要实现的任何人生目标中应用。

7 Amazing Benefits of Learning a New Language

BY SEAN KIM

There have been numerous studies pointing to the benefits of learning a new language. Yet, recent study shows that only 18% of Americans can fluently speak two or more languages.

Part of the reason is that learning a new language only becomes an interest to us once we reach adulthood, and we mistakenly think that it’s impossible to acquire a new language at a certain age. While it’s not a walk in the park, nearly anyone can learn a new language with a bit of motivation and diligence. Some people have more of an aptitude for learning languages, like children, but we shouldn’t let it discourage us from continuing to improve.

If you need more reasons to motivate yourself to learn a new language, here are 7 amazing benefits backed by science.

1.You Will Improve Your Native Languages

It’s only when we learn a new language, that we can appreciate the roots and fundamentals of our native language. This is because we grew up speaking our native language, without much thought in terms of how sentence structures worked or breaking down the accents for each syllable.

According to the Impact of the Second Language Education, studying a second language alone will significantly improve the grammar, reading, vocabulary, and speaking skills of your first language. It’s similar to playing basketball your whole life, then learning how to play volleyball, and using those skills to improve your basketball game.

2. Enhances Your Focus

In a study, published online in the journal Brain and Language, individuals who spoke more than one language were observed through an fMRI, while performing word comprehension tasks. Results showed that multilingual individuals were better at filtering out competing words than one-language speaking individuals. This ability to tune out competing words benefits in blocking out distractions to focus on the task at hand.

Luckily for us, studies have shown that even those of us with minimal knowledge of a secondary language can reap the advantages of these traits.

3. Prevents Common Brain Diseases

Hopefully none of us have to worry about this anytime soon, but aging is something that is common in all of us. When it comes to the brain, learning a new language can prevent or delay Alzheimer’s disease and dementia by 4.5 years. This is a far more powerful than the best drugs, which only delay the symptoms by 6–12 months.

4. Learn Anything Faster

In a study done in Massachusetts in 2007, the researchers have concluded that the “exercise in cognitive problem solving” through language learning can be directly applied to anything we want to learn. Your memory retention is also improved when learning a new language. Absorbing and retaining more information can significantly shorten your learning curve, because you can spend more time learning new information instead of re-learning something you’ve already seen before.

5. Become More Outgoing And Liked By Others

Language learning is not only about communicating in a foreign language, it’s about experiencing a new culture.

The first reason is that meeting foreign people is embedded in the core of language learning. In order to practice and improve a new language, you’ll need to work with a native speaking teacher , use conversation exchanges, or attend language meetups. This is similar to how you need to just ride the bicycle instead of watching videos about it, its just part of the process.

The experience of speaking with conversation partners is essentially the same as meeting anyone. The skills of being communicative and sociable are directly transferable to other areas of your life. Most importantly, learning a new language helps you step into the shoes of people different to yourself and see the world from a contrasting perspective — therefore developing empathy for others.

6. Double Your Creativity

We often have to puzzle together words to form a sentence until it fits and makes sense for another person. Learning a new language improves your divergent thinking skills, training you to produce multiple solutions to problems on a consistent basis. This “out of the box” experimentation practice is why researchers have concluded that multilingual individuals are more creative than monolingual individuals.

7. Boost Your Confidence Level

When we set out to achieve something and find success, it boosts our confidence levels — no matter how small the success. Even being able to carry a 30-second conversation with a native speaker can significantly boost your confidence, because you know it’s something you wouldn’t have been able to do before.

This “yes, I can!” mentality will become your personal mantra, and can be applied to any goal you want to achieve in your life.

—— The End ——

原文标题：7 Amazing Benefits of Learning a New Language

原文地址：http://www.lifehack.org/333009/7-amazing-benefits-learning-new-language?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=1

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