![]() Sadly, teachers are often asked to spend their time on poorly-evidenced approaches - a particular trend, brain gym, or learning styles. ![]() It’s a bit like learning to drive, but then also learning that during the test you have to make each movement obvious (hey, look at me looking in the rear view mirror). It can feel like school is more about putting on a show than it is making a difference. Yet, too often, somewhere along the way, that can get lost. Of course, all staff in schools are there because they want pupils to succeed. Most teachers can probably think of at least one occasion when they taught in a certain way - or did a certain thing in their lesson because they knew a colleague wanted to see it - rather than because they saw how it helped them or their students. “More languages are better, diversity is fantastic and we should all try to embrace that, not only by being accepting of it, but also by working to make it a part of our own lives.Sometimes it feels like being a successful teacher is knowing when to bring out the jazz hands - or more importantly, when not to. “I think we have to go one step further, though” she continues. “A lot of kids went to French immersion and Toronto is a very diverse community, where we welcome and celebrate multiple languages and cultures. “I’m always kind of disappointed that Canadians aren’t more interested in this, because we have a tremendous opportunity to make bilingualism a more important part of life,” says Bialystok. But learning - anything, really, not just languages - is about the intangibles, opening your mind to new ways of thinking and new experiences. And, in addition, a lot of members sign up just because they’ve always been interested in a specific language, country or culture.Īnd that’s really what it’s all about right? Sometimes we focus on a specific payoff for learning something new, as though it’s a transaction. ![]() I’m not alone in that, says Babbel’s Hernandez, who tells me that a lot of that platform’s users are taking lessons to enhance their travel experience. I would have resumed Spanish regardless, since I feel the more I understand the better my experience is when I travel. Nobody’s come up with a cure for dementia yet and there’s only so far cognitive reserve can take us since neural pathways can’t outsmart these diseases forever. If you compare monolingual and bilingual patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, you’ll find that the bilinguals have been functioning as though they were normal for three or four years.”īialystok explains that “cognitive reserve,” which is a term that loosely refers to the neural pathways that we build when we learn languages (and many other things, not just language), only protects us from symptoms of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, not the diseases themselves. “Well, thousands of patient studies from all around the world have replicated this many times. “How do we know?” says Ellen Bialystok, distinguished research professor of psychology at York University and author of the study. And a new paper, “ Bilingualism: Pathway to Cognitive Reserve,” indicates that the protection is significant - in some cases, leading to years of improved cognitive function. Others, though, are joining because they’ve heard that learning a language is good for the brain and is said to offer protection against dementia. Many wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment others were looking for human connection, which is part of the reason Babbel has revamped its platform - launching this month in Canada is “Babbel Live,” which offers group lessons, live classes and, generally speaking, more opportunities for interactivity. While I was slacking off, it turns out that a lot of other people were redoubling their efforts and/or making resolutions to learn a new language during the shutdown(s). “Many people said they were using Babbel to stay mentally active during COVID and, for some, it even helped them cope with isolation.” “We did a survey in 2020 and found that a lot of Canadians said they were learning a new language for mental health and brain fitness,” says Hector Hernandez, curriculum manager and expert linguist at Babbel Live. And, increasingly, a lot of Canadians are working on a second language to help their grey matter. Others want to have richer conversations with friends and family. Some people learn languages for work or school. There are plenty of other great reasons to learn a second (or third or fourth) language, though. Over the past year, I’ve really dropped the ball when it comes to my daily Spanish practice.Īlthough the pandemic might not be entirely to blame for this, I’m pretty sure it’s at least part of the problem, since in the before times I’d practise extra hard in advance of my next trip - and there hasn’t been one of those in a long time.
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