Learning a foreign language is more than just a boost to your CV or handy for travelling. It will make you smarter more decisive and even better at your mother tongue says Anne Merritt.

Physiological studies have found that speaking two or more languages is a great asset to the cognitive process. The brains of bilingual people operate differently than single language speakers and these differences offer several mental benefits.

Below are seven cognitive advantages to learning a foreign language. Many of the seattributes are only apparent in people who speak multiple languages regularly-if you havent spoken a foreign tongue since your A levels your brain might not be reaping these bilingual benefits. However people who begin language study in their adult lives can still achieve the same levels of fluency as a young learner and still reap the same mental benefits.

1. You become smarter

Speaking a foreign language improves the functionality of your brain by challenging it to recognize negotiate meaning and communicate in different language systems. This skill boosts your ability to negotiate meaning in other problem-solving tasks as well.

Students who study foreign languages tend to score better on standardized tests than their monolingual peers particularly in the categories of maths reading and vocabulary.

2. You build multitasking skills

Multilingual people especially children are skilled at switching between two systems of speech writing and structure. According to a study from the Pennsylvania State University this “juggling” skill makes them good multitaskers because they can easily switch between di仟 erentstructures. In one study participants used a driving simulator while doing separate distractingtasks at the same time. The research found that people who spoke more than one language made fewer errors in their driving.

3. You stave off Alzheimers and dementia

Several studies have been conducted on this topic and the results are consistent. Formonolingual adults the mean age for the first signs of dementia is 71.4. For adults who speak twoor more languages the mean age for those first signs is 75.5. Studies considered factors such aseducation level income level gender and physical health but the results were consistent.

4. Your memory mproves

Educators often liken the brain to a muscle because it functions better with exercise. Learning a language involves memorizing rules and vocabulary which helps strengthen that mental “muscle”. This exercise improves over all memory which means that multiple languagespeakers are better at remembering lists or sequences. Studies show that bilinguals are better atretaining shopping lists names and directions.

5. You become more perceptive

A study from Spains University of Pompeu Fabra revealed that multilingual people are betterat observing their surroundings. They are more adept at focusing on relevant information andediting out the irrelevant. Theyre also better at spotting misleading information. Is it any surprisethat Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot are skilled polyglots？

6. Your decision-making skills improve

According to a study from the University of Chicago bilinguals tend to make more rationaldecisions. Any language contains nuance and subtle implications in its vocabulary and the sebiases can subconsciously in fluence your judgment. Bilinguals are more confident with theirchoices after thinking it over in the second language and seeing whether their initial conclusions still stand up.

7. You improve your mother language

Learning a foreign language draws your focus to the mechanics of language： grammarconjugations and sentence structure. This makes you more aware of language and the ways itcan be structured and manipulated These skills can make you a more effective communicatorand a sharper editor and writer. Language speakers also develop a better ear for listening sincetheyre skilled at distinguishing meaning from discreet sounds

安妮·梅里特說，學外語不僅是豐富你的簡歷或者方便旅行。學外語會讓你更聰明，更果斷，甚至讓你的母語更棒。

生理研究發(fā)現(xiàn)能講兩種或以上的語言對于認知過程大有幫助，是一筆莫大的財富。能講兩種語言的人們，其大腦運轉(zhuǎn)方式和只能講—種語言的人是不同的，這種不同，帶來了一些腦力方面的幫助。

以下是學習一門外語的七個認知優(yōu)勢。這其中的很多特質(zhì)只適用于頻繁講多種語言的人——如果你在達到初級水平之后就再也沒講過這門外語，你的大腦可能還沒有抓住這些雙語優(yōu)勢。然而，在成人階段開始語言學習的人們?nèi)匀豢梢赃_到和年少學生一樣的流利程度，也同樣可以收獲相同的認知優(yōu)勢。

1.變得更聰明

講外語會迫使你的大腦去識別、調(diào)整語義，并且在不同的語言系統(tǒng)中交流，以此提升大腦的功能。此技能也會幫助你在解決其他問題時懂得調(diào)整。

學習外語的學生，和只會講一種語言的同學相比，傾向于在標準化考試中取得更好的成績，尤其是在數(shù)學、閱讀和詞匯這些范疇。

2.擁有同時執(zhí)行多項任務的技能

能講多種語言的人，尤其是小孩子，擅長在兩種口語、寫作和結構系統(tǒng)中轉(zhuǎn)換。根據(jù)賓州州立大學的一項研究表明，這種“玩拋接雜?！钡募寄茏屗麄兡軌蚝馨舻赝瑫r執(zhí)行多項任務，因為他們可以輕易地在不同架構中轉(zhuǎn)換。在一項研究中，參與者在使用模擬駕駛系統(tǒng)的同時做了其他分散注意力的事情。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)能講多種語言的人在這種駕駛過程中更少出錯。

3.延緩老年癡呆或者其他癡呆癥

針對這一話題開展過多項研究，結果是一致的。對于只講一種語言的成人，初現(xiàn)癡呆癥狀的平均年齡是71.4歲。對于能講兩種或者以上語言的成人，初現(xiàn)的平均年齡為75.5歲。這些研究考慮了諸如教育程度、收入水平、性別和身體健康等多方面的因素，但結果都是一致的。

4.提高記憶力

大腦越用越靈活，所以教育者通常將大腦比作肌肉。學習一門語言需要記憶規(guī)則和詞匯，這些有助于鍛煉你的認知“肌肉”。這樣的鍛煉會全面提升你的記憶力，這意味著能講多種語言的人更擅長于記憶列表或者次序。研究顯示，雙語學習者更擅長記住購物清單、人名和方位。

5.更能明察事理

來自西班牙龐培法布拉大學的一項研究揭示：講多種語言的人更會觀察他們周圍的環(huán)境。他們更擅長集中注意力在相關信息上，同時排除無關干擾，他們也更擅長找出迷惑性信息。名偵探夏洛克·福爾摩斯和赫爾克里·波洛都通曉多種語言，你還覺得驚奇么？

6.更會做決定

據(jù)來自芝加哥大學的一項研究，能講兩種語言的人傾向于做出更理性的決定。任何語言的詞匯都包含細微的差別和微妙的暗示，而這些偏差會潛意識地影響你的判斷。能講多種語言的人會用第二語言考慮自己最初的結論是否成立，之后他們會對自己的決定更加自信。

7.你的母語也會更棒

學習外語會將你的注意力集中在語言結構本身;語法、詞形變化和甸子結構。這會增強你的語言意識，以及組織和操縱語言的能力。這些技能會讓你成為一個更有效的溝通者、更犀利的編輯和作家。語言學習者在這一過程中也成為更好的傾聽者，因為他們擅長通過嚴謹?shù)陌l(fā)言來區(qū)別不同的意思。