

Learning second language 'slows brain ageing' - Nux
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27634990

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Kronopath
I do question whether they have the arrow of causality pointing the right way.
Did these people have better cognitive abilities because they learned another
language, or did they find it easier to learn another language because they
had better cognitive abilities?

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jimrandomh
Definitely pointing the wrong way, and it's obvious enough that I would call
the headline dishonest. Flagged.

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PeterWhittaker
Disagree, see comment on parent.

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jacquesm
I suspect this is a special case of 'learning slows brain ageing'.

Use it or lose it has long ago been noticed wrt to the brain:

[http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articl...](http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articles/The%20Brain...Use%20it%20or%20Lose%20It/)

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Zardoz84
So when one learns C, C++, D, Java, Python, x86 Assembly, his brain never gets
old ?

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Nux
Wonder if it applies to "programming languages", too. :-)

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lwhalen
I wonder if it applies to music. I've never met a musician who _didn 't_
consider music its own language.

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PeterWhittaker
I believe it does, see comment above.

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eob
I would really like to see a study that compares learning a second language
while living in that country versus learning a second language as an academic
exercise.

Both involve a lot of work, but the latter --- which probably accounts for
most language learning --- involves a lot more intentional effort rather than
passive learning.

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rdudek
Learning the language is one thing, but remembering it is quite another. I was
born in Poland and now live in the States. We speak Polish at home and English
pretty much everywhere else. I've also learned Spanish, but I do have a hard
time being proficient at it since I don't use it.

