If you speak more than one language, you have a better chance of staving off memory loss and, possibly, the mental and physical decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease. New research shows that even learning a new language later in life can delay the onset of dementia.
新的研究显示，会说不止一种语言的人，记忆力的丧失比较缓慢，甚至与老年痴呆症相关的心理和生理衰退也比较缓慢。事实上，有关研究显示，即使年纪比较大才开始学习新的语言，也能延缓失智现象的发生。
At the Voice of America, there are many people who speak one, two, three or more languages. Sandra LeMaire, on VOA's Web Desk, speaks four languages fluently.
在美国之音，很多人能说一种、两种、三种甚至更多的语言。例如网络部的珊德拉·勒梅尔，能流利地说四种语言。
"My first language is French," says LeMaire. "I was born in Haiti, so I grew up speaking French, and then at the age of five, we moved to New York City."
她说：“我的母语是法文。我出生在海地，所以我小时候法文。5岁那年，我们搬到纽约。”
In addition to French, LeMaire's family also speaks Creole, English and Spanish - and she learned those languages as well.
勒梅尔家里除了说法文之外，还说克里奥尔语、英语和西班牙语，所以她也学会了这些语言。
Producer Zulima Palacio's native language is Spanish. She started speaking English in her early twenties. Her reporter's notebook reflects both languages.
导播祖利玛·巴拉奇奥的母语是西班牙语。她20多岁才开始说英语。她写采访笔记时，两种语言并用。
"When I go, for example to a press conference, you will have to be bilingual to be able to read my notes. My brain instinctively takes notes in both languages," she says. "If it's shorter in English, I take it in Engilsh. If it is shorter in Spanish, I take it in Spanish."
巴拉奇奥说：“例如，当我参加记者会时，你得懂两种语言才能读我的笔记。我本能地用两种语言做笔记。如果英文句子比较短，我就用英文。如果用西班牙文比较短，就用西班牙文。”
A new study indicates that as they get older, Palacio and LeMaire will have advantages over their colleagues who speak only one language. People who speak more than one language are better able to stave off the normal cognitive decline that comes with aging. And if they develop Alzheimer's or another form of dementia, their brains will continue to function better than those of their monolingual friends. Those conclusions come from a recent study of 450 Alzheimer's patients.
根据一项新的研究，巴拉奇奥和勒梅尔上年纪之后，会比其他只能说一种语言的同事有优势。因为说不止一种语言的人，更能避免随年龄老化而来的认知能力退化。如果他们患了老年痴呆症或其它失智病症，他们的大脑功能也会好过只说一种语言的病人。这些结论来自最近对450名老年痴呆病患的研究。
Psychologist Ellen Bialystok, of York University in Toronto, was the lead researcher. "We've been able to show that people who spend most of their lives actively using two languages are able to postpone the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease by four or five years beyond what we see in comparable monolingual patients."
主持这项研究的是约克大学心理学家艾伦·比亚里斯托克。她说：“我们能够证明，与只讲一种语言的人相比，在一生大部分时间里灵活使用两种以上语言的人，能够使老年痴呆症状的发生延迟四到五年。”
According to Bialystok, the physical changes that Alzheimer's causes in the brain could be the same for both a monolingual patient and a bilingual patient. But the bilingual patient does not show the outward symptoms of the disease until much later on. Her research is now focusing on the structural differences in bilingual brains.
比亚里斯托克说，老年痴呆症导致的生理变化，在单一语言病患和双语病患之间，可能相同。但是，双语患者要很久才会显示出外在的病兆。 现在这项研究的重点是说双语的人脑部结构的不同。
"It's possible that the bilingual mind is just better connected and better able to cope when there's a disease like Alzheimer's because it has a more robust set of mental activities, mental components."
她说：“很可能双语者的头脑可能有较好的联想能力。当老年痴呆之类的症状发生时，也能更好地应对，因为他的心理活动更活跃和心理结构更强健。”
Another study shows even more advantage for someone who speaks multiple languages - such as VOA correspondent Ravi Khana, who learned five languages as a child.
还有一项研究显示了说多种语言更多的益处。比如美国之音记者拉维·卡纳。他从小能说五种语言。
"In India, your neighbor is a Bangla, your next door neighbor maybe is a Punjabi and your other neighbor may be somebody else," says Khana. "Kids play together and they talk in their languages, and so you are exposed right away when you come out of your house to other languages."
卡纳说：“在印度，你的邻居是孟加拉人，也许你的隔壁是旁遮普人，另一名邻居也许又是什么人。孩子们在一起玩耍，说自己的语言，所以你马上就接触了你家庭以外的别种语言。”
In a study from Luxembourg, people who spoke three or more languages were less likely to have memory problems as they aged, compared to those who were bilingual. And even if you only speak one language now, Bialystok says learning a new language can help stave off the effects of dementia, even if you never speak it like a native.
在卢森堡做的这项研究显示，能说三种以上语言的人，在年老时比说双语的人更不容易有记忆退化的问题。比亚里斯托克教授说，就算你现在还只说一种语言，再学习一种新的语言，尽管永远不能像说母语那么流利，仍旧可以帮助你避免失智现象的发生。 |