1. The ability to communicate in a new language

The main benefit a person gains when committing to learning English (or any language) is the ability to communicate with the language itself and create connections with a broader range of the world’s population.

2. The brain has a change in electrical activity

Before this study, folks believed this change in brain functioning only occurred when students had obtained a high level of language ability in the new language. Still, this study revealed this change might occur at the earliest stages of language learning.

3. Superior memory function

Language learning showed an increase in memory capacities, especially in short-term memory. This is a massive benefit because it allows the brain to keep information for longer durations while thinking processes are activated.

4. Increased mental flexibility

The article explains this keeps mental pathways “opened up,” which allows a person to use “differing avenues for thought.” Language learning helps “exercise” the brain to keep it flexible and agile.

5. Increased problem-solving abilities

A person also benefits from language learning by gaining increased problem-solving abilities in all of the following areas: abstract thinking skills, concept formation, creative hypothesis formulation, strengthened capacity to identify, understand and solve problems; the ability to focus on a task by filtering out distractions and extraneous information and an increase in multi-tasking ability.

6. Greater comprehension of how language works

Language acquisition also benefits a person by better comprehending how language works. The study found that individuals with multilingual communication could better read and interpret social situations, which improved their performance in social settings.

7. Prevents the deterioration of brain functioning over time

The study reports that multilingual individuals had a decreased rate of 2 to 4 years in developing age-related cognitive problems such as dementia.

8. Increased ability in digital literacy

The culmination of all these advantages results in one last benefit: an increased ability in digital literacy. Because of these quickened mental abilities, multilingual individuals have a noticeable ability to stay up to date with modern technologies. Reading about this benefit reminded me of this quote: “Our intelligence tends to produce technological and social change at a rate faster than our institutions and emotions can cope with…We, therefore, find ourselves continually trying to accommodate new realities within inappropriate existing institutions, and trying to think about those new realities in traditional but sometimes dangerously irrelevant terms.” (War: The Lethal Custom, p. 441). Having increased mental agility due to language acquisition helps the average language learners better stay atop all technological and informational changes constantly evolving in today’s world.

Help students gain these skills through an effective ELL reading program.

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