A Word to the Wise: The Benefits of Speaking a Second Language
—Ben Bousada

To many people, the point of learning a second language may not be very obvious. You may wonder: If all your friends and family speak the same language, what is the advantage of learning a second one? Well, scientists might just have an answer for you. Recently, several studies have shown that learning a second language may provide benefits that go beyond being able to speak with different groups of people—it may actually make you smarter!
Studies have indicated that compared with those who speak only one language, bilingual people perform better on mental tasks such as problem-solving, planning, and memory recall. Those who speak two languages have also been proven to excel at focusing on useful information while ignoring distracting information. In regard to social advantages, bilingualism has actually been suggested to improve a person's ability to perceive the emotions of others.
Surprisingly, the ability to speak a second language may even aid in the prevention of mental disorders. It has been demonstrated that when a person ages, bilingualism delays the effects of dementia and can even increase the likelihood of recovering from a stroke.

學第二語言讓你變聰明！
對許多人來說，學習第二語言的目的可能不是很明顯。你或許很納悶：如果所有的朋友和家人都說同樣的語言，學習第二語言的好處是什麼？嗯，科學家可能正好有答案給你。最近好幾項研究顯示，學習第二語言可能提供的好處不止於能和不同族群的人交談──它可能真的能讓你變得更聰明！
研究指出，相較於只說一種語言的人，會說雙語的人在解決問題、規劃和記憶力之類的腦力工作方面表現得更好。說雙語的人也被證實善於專注在有用的資訊而忽略令人分心的資訊。關於社交上的優勢，雙語能力事實上已被指出能提高一個人察覺他人情緒的能力。
令人驚訝的是，說第二語言的能力甚至可能有助於預防精神障礙。已有證明指出人老化時，雙語能力能延緩癡呆的影響，甚至還可以增加從中風中康復的可能性。

2017/04/19(三)