
Learning languages is a workout for brains, both young and old - Libertatea
http://news.psu.edu/story/334349/2014/11/12/research/learning-languages-workout-brains-both-young-and-old
======
facepalm
Quote from the second paragraph:

"Learning and practicing something, for instance a second language,
strengthens the brain"

So it is not just languages, but generally learning stuff. Who would have
thought...

~~~
Estragon
Yes, and unless you're planning on an extended stay somewhere you'll put it to
use, there are so many alternatives which are likely to be more valuable than
learning a language.

~~~
gumby
There are other reasons to learn a language, such as access to its literature.
For example, once I left school I was no longer in an "extended stay where I
could put it to use" (in this case, Greek and Latin) but the pleasures of the
languages and cultures (especially the ancient Greeks who were _weird_) caused
me to continue to use them.

But learning _anything_ is good for the soul...and as Blake said, there is a
universe in a grain of sand.

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kitd
I attribute much of my expertise at software development to learning languages
at school.

Translating a piece of text from one language to another consists of
abstracting the core ideas and meaning from the text using the first language
and reimplementing them in a natural way in the second. This is a very similar
mental process to taking real-world concepts and reimplementing them in
software.

Among the languages I learnt was Latin, which is a very "elegant" language.
Ie, it conveys much meaning in few words. Being able to do the same in
software still gives me a buzz after 25 years.

~~~
melling
Honestly, I'm not sure computer programming is even remotely related to
language learning. If it were we would probably see more evidence. Anyway, I
taught myself how to program while I was in high school, a few decades ago.
Learning Spanish probably took me a decade and I never really got it until I
immersed myself by studying in Guatemala for 10 weeks then backpacking to
Argentina over the next several months. Actually, I considered myself good by
Colombia. People didn't respond in English and I didn't have to repeat myself.

~~~
RevRal
All human languages consist of syntax and phonetics. Programming languages act
as an intermediary between human intelligence and machine intelligence. We
almost always require the language aspect of programming to communicate with
computer hardware. It is a link for compiling syntax between both the human
mind and the computer mind. We need a common means to compile information,
just like communicating ideas between people. Programming languages are
exactly the same thing as traditional spoken language.

I'll argue that to parse any language requires a specific cognitive skill.
Ever sentence diagram, look up a word in the dictionary, or look up what
specific programming "words" do in a computer?

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walterbell
Interlinear (2 or 3 different languages in alternate line) versions of ancient
religious texts are a good learning tool, because the source text has received
much translator attention over time.

Foreign-language bibles were one of the tools used by the inimitable sci-fi
writer R.A. Lafferty ([http://ralafferty.org](http://ralafferty.org)) to gain
a reading knowledge of ten languages.

~~~
violiner
I was cautioned against using this approach too much when I studied Classical
Greek and Latin in college.

There are two potential problems, as I understand it. First, learning a
language, particularly an ancient language, involves learning ancient words
for things that have no analog in modern life, whereas translation involves
mapping those very things onto their closest equivalent in a modern language.
It would be too easy using the interlinear method to start thinking that the
Greek word 'krater' means a bowl or cup, when really it is a specific type of
bowl used for mixing wine. That can really only be learned by consulting a
dictionary, and probably a few pictures.

The second issue is only really a problem for people who are particularly
familiar with the text in translation - it's very very easy to start mentally
reciting the translation you're familiar with instead of actually parsing the
original text. This is one reason that Attic Greek is preferred to Koine (New
Testament), even though Koine is generally simpler. Even a secular person
usually has enough familiarity with the Bible to make this an issue.

I certainly wouldn't say that this method can't be used profitably, but rather
that one should be careful not to fall into those particular traps. The same
criticisms could be made to relying on the Loeb editions.

Also, minor nitpick: The New Testament isn't really written in Classical
Greek, it's in Koine. Going from Koine to any classical dialect is going to be
much more difficult than going from any classical dialect to Koine, due to the
simplified grammar and vocabulary of Koine Greek.

~~~
nemo
Back in grad. school in Classics the professors called students who depended
on the inter-text translations the "Loeb Rangers."

Also, while it's true that you're better off learning Attic first, learning
some Koine can give some the vocab. and conceptual grounding in the
inflections to get a handle on Attic, so long as you don't stick with Koine
for years it's not such a bad approach.

~~~
violiner
My Greek professor called them the Loebomenoi.

------
tokenadult
I could have a big-time bias toward believing this headline is true as
written. (See my user profile here on Hacker News for more details about my
language studies.) But I wonder if the really generalizable finding is simply
that adult learners taking on a new challenging learning topic prompt their
brains to grow and stay flexible longer. For me, after learning a lot of
natural human languages, brushing up and extending my knowledge of mathematics
for a career change seemed to provide a fair amount of intellectual growth.
Maybe now it's time for me to take up music lessons or an active team sport
like soccer. There is always time to learn something new, and there seem to be
a lot of benefits from learning almost anything.

~~~
drcomputer
I personally seek new, ridiculous, absurd, positive things to learn that no
one has written about. Sometimes I feel like I get a touch of it, the more
careful and in control I am with writing code. Life is fun when it's positive
and unpredictable.

------
chipuni
The article seems to contradict itself.

"Of the subjects learning the new vocabulary, those who were more successful
in attaining the information showed a more connected brain network than both
the less successful participants and those who did not learn the new
vocabulary."

Those who were successful showed a real improvement. But what of those who
weren't successful?

"The researchers also found that the participants who were successful learners
had a more connected network than the other participants even before learning
took place."

So... people could be grouped into success or failure even before the
learning.

Those who weren't genetically set up for it, got little advantage.

~~~
didibus
I thought the same thing, I didn't see anything in the article that mentioned
that learning a new language improved your brain, unless you already had a
very good and connected brain to learn the language.

Maybe we can infer that if you try to learn somethign which you don't have the
brain capacity to learn, it will be of no use. But if you try and learn
something at your level of brain capacity, it will improve your brain.

Therefore, to improve your brain you need to challenge it everytime with
something it's capable of solving. Sounds a lot like it's saying, just
actively practice your brain.

------
fuzzythinker
I've been teaching my 2.2 yr old son 3 languages since birth. I speak 60/40
Chinese/English to him and my wife speaks 100% Japanese to him. We only let
him watch around 1 hr of TV a day, a mix of 3 languages too. So far, he's
vocabulary is only ba(dad), ma, and go (throw toy for our dog to fetch).

I wonder if his confusion over the 3 languages pay the major part for his late
speaking abilities, or if he got too much of my left brain genes, or a bit of
both. Anyone here with experience teaching their kids 3+ languages since
birth? What was their speaking ability like around this age?

~~~
michah
We have two boys who are tri-lingual (thai, german, english). The essential
thing is that the kid makes the association:

one person = one language

If you speak both English and Chinese to your son, he might be later confused
on what words are from which language.

I would recommend you only speak Chinese to him. For our kids, English is now
their strongest language but it was only taught by their 'environment' i.e.
kindergarten / school and they started with English only at age 2-3. Now they
talk English with each other (before they went through a period in which they
talked German or Thai with each other). So you should not underestimate the
'environment language'.

Also, you might consider having some other relatives speaking certain specific
languages with your son (e.g. grandparents). This could reinforce their
language skills.

Personally, I do not believe that learning languages from TV is effective.
Learning languages is about relationships and interaction. I think the 1 hr
per day would be better spend on interacting with your son in the respective
language, e.g. by playing memory game etc.

Regarding late development of speaking. We did not experience this with our
kids. But they might be a bit delayed when learning to read and write because
of different phonetic rules of the respective languages.

~~~
gumby
> The essential thing is "one person = one language"

I was told this by many people but I am not sure why they say this.

My wife and I always spoke a mixture (German/French) together so of course did
so also with our kid (plus English/Spanish outside the house). He had no
problem, and in school or was quite orthodox in regards to which language to
speak with which person. But at home or with relatives and polyglot friends he
would switch back and forth. His classmates seemed to be the same.

I have seen my mother, in her 70s, switch mid sentence when arguing with her
brother. Then turn and speak to my father in English.

------
geekam
Is there a certain way that languages are supposed to be learnt to maximize
brain workout? In other words, does one way of learning a new language benefit
more than the other?

I use Duolingo for learning new language(s).

~~~
melling
Many people claim that spaced repetition systems are the best way to learn, in
general. Anki is a well known app that uses it.

[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition)

[https://ankiweb.net](https://ankiweb.net)

I believe Duolingo uses this technique to some extent.

By the way, I've been dabbling with iOS language learning apps. I've been
trying to add simple games to help with the repetition that's required to
learn a new language. Plus, I recently add a thousand images so people can
learn by associating the foreign word with a picture. I think it can be better
than associating the word with your native language. I've built apps for
several languages (French, German, Italian,Russian,...). Here's my Spanish
app: [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/h4-spanish-
lite/id388918463?...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/h4-spanish-
lite/id388918463?mt=8)

I also started building a language site to gather my notes in one place and
try out new ideas: [http://thespanishsite.com](http://thespanishsite.com)

~~~
Kronopath
Spaced repetition is excellent for building vocabulary and learning new words.
I'm less convinced of its effectiveness for more subtle things like grammar
and sentence structure—those are the kinds of things that don't fit well on a
flashcard. I'd say those things are more well-developed through deliberate
practice and interactions with other speakers of the language.

I'll throw out a recommendation for Memrise
([http://memrise.com](http://memrise.com)) as well.

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madnan
I wonder if learning different programming languages does the same? Or as the
comment earlier states, is it just a matter of challenging yourself and
learning new things that does the same?

------
davyjones
If you want a really really good workout, practice writing with your non-
dominant hand.

