TOKYO (AP) \u2014 I speak decent Spanish, picked up working several decades ago as a news and sports reporter in Spain, Mexico and Argentina.<\/p>\n
Now I report from Tokyo. After seven years, I still can\u2019t grasp Japanese. My weekly language classes have taught me humility more than anything else.<\/p>\n
Ayaka Ono, my current Japanese teacher, estimates she\u2019s tutored about 600 students over 15 years. They\u2019ve been mostly between 20 and 50. I\u2019m more than a decade beyond her eldest<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI find older students take tiny, tiny steps and then they fall back,\u201d Ono-san \u2014 \u201csan\u201d is an honorific in Japanese to show respect \u2014 tells me. \u201cThey can\u2019t focus as long. I teach something one minute and they forget the next.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s well established that children have an easier time<\/a> learning second languages. In recent years, scientists have studied whether being bilingual may help ward off the memory lapses and reduced mental sharpness that come with an aging brain<\/a>. Much of the research on the potential benefit involved people who spoke two or more languages for most of their lives, not older adult learners. <\/p>\n \u201cThe science shows that managing two languages in your brain \u2014 over a lifetime \u2014 makes your brain more efficient, more resilient and more protected against cognitive decline,\u201d said Ellen Bialystok, a distinguished research professor emeritus at York University in Toronto who is credited with advancing the idea of a possible \u201cbilingual advantage\u201d in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n There\u2019s good news for older adults like me: Attempting to acquire a new language<\/a> is worthwhile, and not just because it makes reading a menu easier while traveling abroad. Bialystok, a cognitive neuroscientist, recommends studying a new language at any age, comparing the challenge to word puzzles and brain-training games that are promoted to slow the onset of dementia<\/a>. <\/p>\n This article is part of AP\u2019s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTrying to learn a language late in life is a great idea, but understand it won\u2019t make you bilingual and is probably too late to provide the protective effects of cognitive aging that come from early bilingualism,\u201d she told The Associated Press. \u201cHowever, learning a new language is a stimulating and engaging activity that uses all of your brain, so it is like a whole-body exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n The latest research<\/p>\n A large study<\/a> published by the science journal Nature Aging in November suggests that speaking multiple languages protects against more rapid brain aging, and that the effect increases with the number of languages. <\/p>\n The findings, based on research involving 87,149 healthy people ages 51 to 90, \u201cunderscore the key role of multilingualism in fostering healthier aging trajectories,\u201d the authors wrote.<\/p>\n Researchers acknowledged the study\u2019s limitations, including a sample population drawn only from 27 European countries with \u201cdiverse linguistic and sociopolitical contexts.\u201d<\/p>\n Bialystok was not involved in the project but has researched second-language acquisition in children and adults, including whether being bilingual<\/a> delays the progression of Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a> or aids in multi-tasking and problem-solving. She said the new study \u201cties all the pieces together.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cOver the lifespan, people who have managed and used two languages end up with brains that are in better shape and more resilient,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Judith Kroll, a cognitive psychologist who heads the Bilingualism, Mind and Brain Lab at the University of California, Irvine, used the expressions \u201cmental athletics\u201d and \u201cmental somersaults\u201d to describe how the brain juggles more than one language. <\/p>\n She said there have been several efforts to examine language learning in older adults and the ramifications.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say there are probably not enough studies to date to be absolutely definitive about this,\u201d she told The AP. \u201cBut the evidence we have is very promising, suggesting both that older adults are certainly able to learn new languages and benefit from that learning.\u201d<\/p>\n More studies are needed on whether language lessons help people in midlife and beyond maintain some cognitive abilities. Kroll compared the state of the field to the late 20th century<\/a>, when the dominant thinking was that exposing infants and young children to two or more languages put them at a educational disadvantage. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat we know now is the opposite,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Learning a language later in life <\/p>\n I visited Spain\u2019s Mediterranean coast in the 1990s when I worked in Madrid. I was shocked by how many non-Spaniards there had lived in the country for years and could say only a few words in Spanish. <\/p>\n Now I get it. When I attempt Japanese, the reaction is often an incredulous, \u201cAnd you\u2019ve been here how long?\u201d<\/p>\n I have workarounds to navigate my hostile linguistic environment. One is saying \u201citsumono.\u201d It means \u201cthe same as always,\u201d or \u201cthe usual.\u201d It\u2019s enough to order morning coffee at a neighborhood cafe or lunch at several regular stops.<\/p>\n As an aside, Japanese is one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to master<\/a>, along with Arabic, Cantonese, Korean and Mandarin. Romance languages such as French, Italian or Spanish are easier.<\/p>\n My once-a-week class is grueling, and one hour is my limit. I use this analogy: my brain is a closet without enough empty hangers, and Japanese doesn\u2019t go with anything in my wardrobe. The writing system is intimidating for an English speaker, the word order is flipped, and politeness is valued more than clarity.<\/p>\n During the 4 1\/2 years I spent reporting from Rio de Janeiro, I got by with Portu\u00f1ol \u2014 an improvised blend of Spanish and Portuguese \u2014 and the patience of Brazilians. There is no such halfway house for Japanese. You either speak it or you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll never progress beyond preschool level in Japanese, but overloading my brain with lessons might work in the same way that my regular weight-training sessions<\/a> help maintain physical strength<\/a>.<\/p>\n