Older adults may struggle to learn a new language but classes are a worthwhile exercise

Learning a New Language in Later Years Offers Brain Benefits, Experts Say

After seven years of living in Tokyo, AP journalist Stephen Wade still struggles with Japanese despite weekly language classes. His experience is not uncommon among older adults attempting to learn a new language, according to his current teacher Ayaka Ono, who has taught approximately 600 students over 15 years.

“I find older students take tiny, tiny steps and then they fall back,” explains Ono. “They can’t focus as long. I teach something one minute and they forget the next.”

While it’s widely accepted that children acquire languages more easily than adults, recent scientific research has focused on whether bilingualism might help protect against cognitive decline as people age. The evidence is particularly strong for those who have spoken multiple languages throughout their lives.

“The science shows that managing two languages in your brain — over a lifetime — makes your brain more efficient, more resilient and more protected against cognitive decline,” says Ellen Bialystok, a distinguished research professor emeritus at York University in Toronto who pioneered research on the “bilingual advantage” concept in the late 1980s.

For older adults, Bialystok offers encouraging news: attempting to learn a new language at any age is beneficial, similar to word puzzles and brain-training games promoted to slow dementia onset. She compares language learning to “a whole-body exercise” for the brain, engaging multiple cognitive systems simultaneously.

“Trying to learn a language late in life is a great idea, but understand it won’t make you bilingual and is probably too late to provide the protective effects of cognitive aging that come from early bilingualism,” Bialystok told AP.

A comprehensive study published in November 2023 in Nature Aging adds weight to these claims. The research, involving 87,149 healthy individuals between ages 51 and 90 from 27 European countries, suggests that speaking multiple languages protects against accelerated brain aging, with benefits increasing with each additional language mastered.

“Over the lifespan, people who have managed and used two languages end up with brains that are in better shape and more resilient,” Bialystok explains, describing the study as one that “ties all the pieces together.”

Judith Kroll, a cognitive psychologist who heads the Bilingualism, Mind and Brain Lab at the University of California, Irvine, describes the brain’s management of multiple languages as “mental athletics” and “mental somersaults.”

While acknowledging that more research is needed on the cognitive benefits for midlife and older language learners, Kroll remains optimistic. “The evidence we have is very promising, suggesting both that older adults are certainly able to learn new languages and benefit from that learning,” she notes.

This represents a significant shift in understanding compared to late 20th century thinking, when exposing children to multiple languages was often viewed as potentially disadvantageous. “What we know now is the opposite,” Kroll emphasizes.

For English speakers, Japanese ranks among the most challenging languages to learn, alongside Arabic, Cantonese, Korean, and Mandarin. Romance languages like French, Italian, or Spanish are generally more accessible for English speakers.

Wade describes his weekly Japanese lessons as “grueling,” comparing his brain to “a closet without enough empty hangers, and Japanese doesn’t go with anything in my wardrobe.” The complex writing system, reversed word order, and emphasis on politeness over clarity create significant hurdles.

Unlike his experience with Portuguese in Brazil, where he could communicate with a blend of Spanish and Portuguese (known as “Portuñol”), Japanese offers no middle ground. “You either speak it or you don’t,” Wade notes.

Regarding language-learning apps, Ono describes them as “better than nothing,” while Bialystok emphasizes that technology can be useful but “progress of course requires using the language in real situations with other people.”

Despite the challenges, Bialystok encourages older adults to pursue language learning, not with expectations of fluency, but for brain health. “What’s hard for your brain is good for your brain,” she says. “And learning a language, especially in later life, is hard but good for your brain.”