Word from the Chair: November
We have reached the halfway mark of the first semester. Our first-year students are in the process of choosing their area and their language specialization. On 3 November we held our Area Fair and we can look back on a very successful event.
Language acquisition forms an important part of our program and we know from previous years that the rich choice in foreign languages is one of the attractive features of International Studies. Recently, I came across a study about the powers of learning a new language.* There is such a thing as the ‘foreign language effect’. When you acquire command over another, additional language, this comes with several scientifically proven effects: humans become more rational, more open-minded and better able to deal with uncertainty.
When prompted in their second language, people tend to be able to take decisions that are more utilitarian. A common test to probe this is to ask people to decide on whether they would be willing to kill one individual to save five others in the context of an upcoming train. When the puzzle is presented in the second language, individuals tend to answer in a more utilitarian manner, and they become more willing to focus on the greater good. Moreover, command over an additional language has an effect on whether individuals are open-minded. In general we tend to think of ourselves as less error-prone than the average individual. This bias blind spot is alleviated when people are speaking a foreign language, it breaks down egoistical types of reasoning. Also, when speaking a second language people display a larger ability to deal with uncertainty.
Other studies have brought forward that speaking a foreign language has beneficial effects on your attention span, creativity, the ability to multitask and on memory.** Indeed, speaking a second language has even been linked to slow down Alzheimer’s disease.*** Activating brain circuits by using different languages is a major ingredient in keeping the brain healthy. Bilingual individuals use posterior and subcortical brain regions more effectively to process and store information in comparison to monolinguals.
The advantages of having command of a second, third or even fourth language are not just individual. Those of you who have tried to speak a foreign language when visiting another country, will have noticed how speaking someone’s language opens doors and hearts. The message you send when speaking a foreign language goes deeper than the words you utter, because above all you are saying: I am interested in you and that is why I learned to speak your language.
German poet, novelist, philosopher and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) once remarked; ‘Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiβ nichts von seiner eigenen‘ - ‘He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own’. It is not only beneficial to be able to encounter the world through words and phrase in someone else’s language, it also offers a reflection on the things that you take for granted in your own. Dear students and colleagues, what more encouragement would you need: Good luck with your language choice and happy practicing.
*David Robson, The Expectation Effect; How Your Mindset Can Transform Your Life (London: Canongate 2023).
** https://potomac.edu/benefits-of-learning-a-second-language/
*** J.A.E. Anderson, K. Hawrylewicz, and J.G. Grundy, ‘Does bilingualism protect against dementia? A meta-analysis’ Psychonomic Bulletin and Review Vol. 27, (2020) pp. 952–965. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-020-01736-5