In the Swedish Academy of young
translators, new recruits study a crash course in complex languages. It
is not only about military discipline: specialists discovered that
intensive study of foreign tongues stimulates the growth of the
hippocampus and causes changes in other structures of the brain.
Learning languages also helps in preventing Alzheimer's disease.
In the Swedish Academy, young people are
offered to study Arabic, Russian or Dari (the language of the Afghan
Tajiks) in 13 months. Newcomers had to learn the language all day long,
every day, at a very intense pace. Their hard work gave unexpectedly
impressive results. The experiment showed that it was not just active
intellectual activity, but the study of foreign tongues. Researchers
used a group of students of the Medical University of Umeå to control
the research. Medics are known for their extensive studies, but the
subject of their studies has nothing in common with foreign languages.
Both groups took MRI tests before the experiment and after three months
of active studies.