Nature & Science

Learning English Changes Your Brain

Listening 4 min Article Advanced

Vocabulary - 10 New Words

Pronunciation - Scottish (British)

Tap all the underlined words below to see their meaning. ⇩

Read today’s article to find out how learning English could dramatically improve your brain. Remember that if you want to listen to the article as you read it, you can press play on the video.

“Learning English can actually modify the structure of your brain.”

English is a global language and speaking it fluently offers some major advantages. Whether you want to be able to travel more easily, build better business relationships, or widen your social circle, English can help.

As it turns out, that’s just the beginning!

Learning English can actually modify the structure of your brain, leading to some amazing cognitive benefits. Here are a few of the fascinating brain changes that can happen when you learn English.

“English can enhance and preserve the integrity of white matter”

Smarter

When you learn English, you can actually increase the volume of grey matter in your brain.

This substance, responsible for processing information, is involved in things like memory, reasoning, and problem-solving. A greater volume of grey matter translates to higher functioning in the processing of various tasks.

Faster

Not only does your grey matter volume increase, but your white matter gets a boost, too. White matter, which contains a protective substance called myelin, connects those regions of grey matter we discussed above. Learning English can enhance and preserve the integrity of white matter, meaning stronger connections between the areas of grey matter. Stronger connections lead to faster information processing speed.

“Because the brain has to work harder when switching between two languages, it becomes more resilient.”

Younger

Learning—and continuing to use—English could also play a role in delaying dementia. One study shows that bilingual adults experience signs of dementia later than monolingual people. It’s suggested that, because the brain has to work harder when switching between two languages, it becomes more resilient.

There’s also a link between decreased grey matter volume and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. In other words, that increase in grey matter we talked about earlier could help delay or protect against some signs of aging.

But wait, there’s more! We already know that learning English affects the integrity of your brain’s white matter. Well, studies also show that abnormalities in white matter are linked to Alzheimer’s disease; it’s therefore suggested that preserving white matter could delay some forms of dementia.

Important to take away…

The many social benefits of English are obvious, but they’re just the start. Learning English can also offer cognitive advantages like improved task processing, faster information processing, and protection against some signs of aging.