A polyglot is a person who knows and speaks several languages in their life, whether it came from their family or by choice studied them through language classes or school-and there are only 1% polyglots out of all world population. It's hard enough for us to master two languages, especially if we don't use them daily. So, how in this world do Polyglots function?
I've always been a person who wanted to try new things in terms of life skills. So, when the pandemic hit two years ago, I was subscribing to language apps like Duolingo or Drops to practice French daily. "Why French?" Maybe because I used to learn it back at high school for two years. I thought it would be so much easier or at least familiar for my brain. Logically, I think my brain is not as fresh as a high schooler, especially when I only receive inputs without giving any conversational outputs. Also, I may need extra confidence to pull the French pronunciation, or I might embarrass myself even to try.
This month is my 7th month learning Japanese with an online tutor after several months of trying other languages through apps. I've decided to work on it seriously. Several obvious reasons to learn Japanese are to prevent loss in translation, which I experienced many times, understand anime better, and enrich my knowledge of its culture-which I adore. The other reason is to increase my mental acuity.
Acuity means having the keenness of thought, vision, or hearing which can be easily achieved by learning languages. A healthier brain is a result of learning per se, but bilingual speakers have shown to have more gray matter and better white matter retention in the brain compared to monolingual people. Gray matter holds most of our brain's neuronal cell bodies involved in muscle control and sensory perception (memory, senses, emotions, self-control, etc.). On the other hand, white matter contains nerves (axons and neurons) in the deeper tissues of the brain.
Both retention can increase our brain's ability to adapt and change based on environmental factors and thinking patterns, or in science, neuroplasticity. Stronger working memory, better attention skills, multitasking, and task-switching are some of the polyglot brain traits I need as I grow older. The benefits of learning languages are far from just being quicker or nimbler; it can also prevent or at least delay people from brain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's.
Another benefit for Polyglots is to have the brainpower as it's a mental workout that fine-tunes our thinking, holds attention longer, flexes our brain to have a higher awareness of metalinguistic that studies languages and cultural context. In the social region, bilinguals also connect better with many people, understand life differently, and are usually more open as they are more logical.
If you think you're too old to learn a new language, you are wrong! It's true that younger people would remember words quickly because they don't have social fears as much as we do. But in many ways, older people can find more effective methods of learning like creative word groupings, spaced repetition, flashcards, and word frequency lists. As long as you allow yourself to make mistakes without feeling embarrassed, you're good to go, がんばって ください!
