Learning a foreign language is the easiest thing in life. Providing that you know how to do it properly.
Arthur Thiem
WHY… learn a foreign language?
There are many obvious reasons why we should learn a foreign language, but let’s mention here just the most advantageous ones:
- it may boost our self-confidence;
- it will help us greatly while traveling or living abroad;
- it may help us find a better job and facilitate business contacts.
And on top of that:
- it will significantly improve our memory, no doubt about it.
According to studies from, among others, Iowa State University and York University in Toronto, speaking more than one language delays the onset of Alzheimer’s disease for a couple of years.
HOW… do we learn?
Basically, if we want to learn something, we need to use our brain. Whether it is a new language, a new guitar chord, or a mathematical equation, the process is always the same.
When we learn something new, we create connections between neurons in our brain called synapses. It used to be believed that those connections could be created only at a young age, but now we know that our brain (thanks to the process called neuroplasticity) is capable of creating new synapses, as well as growing new neurons, at any age.
Actually, the more we learn, the more synapses we are able to create.
HOW… do we remember?
When we create a new synapse, that synapse is very fragile and can easily be broken, which means that we simply… forget.
To make synapses stronger, and at the same time to avoid forgetting, we need to repeat the new piece of information many times. However, the frequency of repetitions over time is much more effective than the quantity of information itself.
In other words, instead of studying something ten hours once a month, doing it just twenty minutes a day (but every day) will bring us much better results (although it is still the same ten hours in a month).
