Can learning another language keep your brain healthier?

 
A new study shows that being bilingual may delay dementia by five or more years. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland discovered that people who spoke two languages did not show any signs of three types of dementia for more than four years longer than those who were monolingual. A co-author of the report, Dr. Thomas Bak, said: "Bilingualism can be seen as a successful brain training, contributing to cognitive reserve, which can help delay dementia." This means that speaking two languages keeps the brain in better health and helps to keep diseases like Alzheimer's at bay for longer than if someone spoke just one language.
 

Dr Bak's research found that bilingualism and the delaying of dementia had little to do with social status, gender, occupation or educational background. Bak's team evaluated the medical records of 648 people from India who had been diagnosed with dementia. Of these patients, 391 were bilingual or trilingual and many were illiterate. Dr Bak wrote: "The fact that bilingual advantage is not caused by any differences in education is confirmed by the fact that it was also found in illiterates, who have never attended any school." He suggested that learning a language later in life could keep the brain healthier. He said language learning was "socially more enjoyable, and it forces your brain to train permanently".

Read more:http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1311/131112-bilingualism.html#ixzz2psh0DWtH 

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	Which university conducted this research?
2.	How many types of dementia did not show up in bilinguals?
3.	What did Dr Bak say bilingualism can be seen as?
4.	What can keep the brain in better health?
5.	What can speaking two languages do to Alzheimer's disease?
6.	How many things mentioned did not affect the delaying of dementia?
7.	How many medical records did Dr Bak look at?
8.	How many of Dr Bak's case studies spoke two or more languages?
9.	What had many of the illiterate people never done?
10.	What did Dr Bak say language learning forces your brain to do?

WARM-UPS

HEALTHY BRAIN:How do/can these things keep the brain healthy? How important are they? ('10' = very; '1' = not at all). Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Importance (1-10)	Why?	Your life?
Language learning
Laughter
Love
Diet
Exercise
Sleep

CONVERSATION QUESTIONS

• What language is spoken the most in your country?
• Do you have a second language in your country?
• How many languages do you speak fluently?
• How many languages do you speak?
• How did you learn your second language?
• What's the best way to learn a foreign language?
• What methods do you use to remember vocabulary better?   
• Does your language have words adopted from English?
• Is English important for an individual in your country?
• Why are you studying English?
• What language you like speaking in?
• What language do you least like speaking in?
• What's your favorite language?
• What's your least favorite language?
• What's the strangest language have you ever head?
• Do you wish your country has another language instead of the present one?