Research suggests language learning staves off Alzheimer'sLEARNING a foreign language and speaking it regularly offers greater protection against Alzheimer's disease than any drug yet available, research suggests.
Bilingual people tend to be diagnosed with the most common form of dementia more than four years later than those who are fluent in only a single language, scientists in Canada have found.
The results suggest the mental skills involved in juggling two languages may stimulate the brain so it becomes more resilient.
Scientists behind the research believe bilingual skills strengthen the brain's "cognitive reserve"-- its ability to perform under stressful conditions.
Bilingual people may be better able to cope with Alzheimer's effects on the brain, they said. Read more here. Date: 20 Feb 2011
India-China joint venture lost in translationThe [Indian] air force's plans to hold its first-ever joint exercises with the Chinese air force have hit turbulence. The hiccup: language barriers. Plans may be afoot to conduct joint exercises with China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in 2012, but top air force officers fear not knowing each
other's language could be fatal in the skies.
A senior air force officer said, "Finding a way around language barriers is crucial if we have to conduct joint air maneouvres with China. It is a huge hurdle."
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Here's how dangerous miscommunication can be: In 1993, Chinese pilots flying a US-made MD-80 were attempting to land in heavy fog at Urumqi in northwest China.
They were flummoxed by an audio alarm from the plane's ground proximity warning system.
Just before impact, the cockpit voice recorder picked up one crewmember asking another in Chinese: "What does 'pull up' mean?" Read more here. Date: 16 Aug 2010
Stephen Fry reveals new BBC TV seriesPlanet Word, a five-part series, will cover language – but it's 'a bit of a secret', Fry tells 14-year-old interviewer Read more here. Date: 21 Jul 2010
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