There are plenty of positive outcomes to Spanish classes for Manchester language-learners.
Simply being able to order food and drink in non-tourist parts of Spain is reason enough for many people to learn the second language, while others may have ancestral roots in a Spanish-speaking country.
But new research hints at one possible result of Spanish classes Manchester’s Spanish speakers may not have noticed – the potential to boost your brainpower.
The study, carried out by the group of cognition and brain plasticity at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, focuses particularly on bilingual Spanish-Catalan speakers but is based on a questionnaire that has been used in language research in other parts of the world, including English-French bilingual areas of Canada.
Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells, study leader, says: “The ability to change from one language to another very quickly may be positive – some even say creative – and could be transferred to other cognitive functions and make the brain more flexible.”
By attending Spanish classes or French lessons Manchester residents may find they are able to boost their own brain’s ability to adapt – while still being able to order lunch during their next holiday.