Could Different Languages Strengthen Our Cognitive Health | Yan-Yi Lee | TEDxCambridgeUniversity

Описание: We all know that the purpose of learning a foreign language is primarily to facilitate intercultural communication and to boost economic power—I mean, it almost seems too obvious. But what many people don’t realise is that language learning is also very much a matter of public cognitive health. And it is essential that we all become aware of this dimension of health because no one—not you, not me— no one is truly exempt from declining brain health in old age. Although cognitive decline cannot really be avoided, there are ways to at least delay its development. While being bilingual doesn’t necessarily make you smarter, it does train your brain to be sharper and more functional for a longer period of your life. Yan-Yi Lee is a PhD candidate at the Education Faculty here at the University of Cambridge, researching strategic language learning and the neuroscience of multilingualism. As a child, she was deeply intrigued by the diversity of human languages, and nowadays she is curious to know how that very diversity can contain an increasingly strong implication for the brain’s functions in old age. She strongly opposes to the common misconception that language majors are ‘useless’ and believes there are a plethora of unexplored channels whereby languages can be highly crucial for scientific development. She is possibly also the youngest female in Taiwanese history to have taught full-time at tertiary level. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx