Didn’t learn a second language as a kid? No worries. Here’s why you might want to learn one anyway.

Want to get smarter? Would you consider visual note taking, brain mapping, or creating video explainers the same as learning a new language? You might find this interesting…

What does being bilingual really do?

It changes the structure of your brain.

Researchers have observed being multilingual can visibly make the neurons and synapses in the brain’s gray matter denser and spur more activity in other regions of the brain when using another language. Basically, it’s a brain workout! and it looks like it is the perfect way to get smarter.

Recent studies have shown that by learning an extra languages is an incredible asset to the cognitive process. It demonstrates how the brains of bilingual humans operate quite differently than those who speak only one language, and these differences offer several mental advantages.

There are huge benefits to gaining knowledge of a foreign language. Many of these attributes are most apparent in bilingual or trilingual people.

It makes you smarter

By communicating in a new language you will improve the capability of your mind by means of challenging it to understand, and negotiate totally new meanings. This new skill helps develop your brain in all kinds of other ways too. That gray matter up there contains all the neuronal cell bodies and stuff that controls your muscles, senses, memory, and — you guessed it — speech. Newer studies show that those slow reaction times and errors on language tests really reflect that the effort of switching between languages is beefing up the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex — the part of your brain that controls problem-solving, switching tasks, and focusing on important stuff while filtering out what’s irrelevant.

You will have better multitasking skills because of the way your brain has to work to switch between your known languages.

A much better chance to avoid Alzheimer’s and dementia. Several studies have been conducted on this topic, and the results are consistent. For monolingual adults, the mean age for the first signs of dementia is 71.4. For adults who speak two or more languages, the mean age for those first signs is 75.5.

Your memory will improve

Scholars liken the brain to a muscle, because it functions better with exercise. Learning a language involves memorising rules and vocabulary, which strengthens the mental “muscle.” This exercise improves overall memory.

You will become more perceptive.

Tests revealed that multilingual people are better at observing their surroundings and were better at focusing on relevant information and editing out the irrelevant.

Improved decision-making skills

Bilinguals are more confident with their choices after thinking it over in the second language and seeing whether their initial conclusions still stand up.

Would you like to sound smarter as well as to get smarter? You will actually improve your English

Speaking a second language will make you more aware of your native language, and the ways it can be structured and manipulated. These skills can make you a more effective communicator and a sharper editor and writer. Language speakers also develop a better ear for listening.