In life, change is the only constant. Whether it is, for better or for worse, is the question of chief significance. We, humans, have been concocted to crave betterment. 

To quote Carl Rogers, “The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination”. Many things in life, “Skills” as we usually call them, are the tools to facilitate this very process; the wagon that we board with our hopes, fears and dreams to drive on the road to better living. 

Learning a foreign language equals one such skill that could change a person on multiple levels. Apart from the obvious professional edge that it gives one in terms of:

1. New Business Opportunities in more countries.
2. New Career Possibilities
3. Higher Income

Learning a new language also rewires the learner’s brain for more efficient functioning. The intricacies and complexities of absorbing a new language are bewildering. It comprises learning new rules, the exercise of translating one’s thoughts and emotions into a foreign combination of a seemingly random collection of letters and words, drawing new connections and memorizing new words and usages, to say the least. This phenomenon can almost magically sharpen memory power, boost concentration by improving sustained attention span, nourish creativity and last but not least, spice up the personality by vastly improving confidence and communication skills (Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz).

Cognitive ability is the most essential resource we have without which, we would fall flat on our faces while life slides by underneath us. There is a noteworthy and reliable body of literature from studies and research that proves an undeniable link between cognitive abilities and multilingualism. Multilingual/Bilingual people tend to best their monolingual counterparts on tests assessing multitasking abilities and selective attention. Studies conducted in different parts of the world show that being bilingual or multilingual may reduce the chances of dementia and Alzheimer’s in people. For example, a study conducted by psychologist Ellen Bialystok in Toronto on 184 individuals from a memory clinic in Toronto revealed that the average age of the monolinguals in the sample during onset was 71.4 years, whereas the average age of onset in the bilinguals and multilingual individuals of the sample was 75.5 years.Athough scientists have not been able to give us a definite reason for the perks that come with learning a new language, my guess would be the various simultaneous actions that the brain has to perform in a bi/multilingual person, such as inhibition and prioritization of one language over another, a larger number of words, phrases and expressions to learn and sustain, new comprehensions to assimilate, new connections to draw, new problems to unravel, a more diverse social interaction, all lead to new and more memory pathways and neural connections in the brain of a bi/multilingual individual as compared to a monolingual person.

One thing however has been confirmed by research: the benefits of learning and practising a new language can be availed of at any age! So what are you waiting for? Choose a new language to learn, and get started. Your cognitive health comes first. Always!