Health benefits of French classes
- Stéphanie Berton
- Aug 31, 2025
- 2 min read
Did you know?
Learning a foreign language is good for your health & wellness
No matter how old the student is, learning a new language brings its load of benefits.
On the social aspect, the group activity remains a great way to meet new people, to weekly socialize, have fun, and spend time away from daily life issues.
Children develop academically useful skills like problem solving, dealing with abstract concepts... Learning French, for instance, will rime with getting better at math.
It is also a great cognitive activity for all ages stimulating neurone development for the kids, but also for seniors.
Indeed, a study about the effect of learning a new language on the enhancement of cognitive functions among healthy older individuals clearly shows why every adult should engage in such activity.
« One of the cognitive training activities, which may enhance cognitive abilities and protect against the decline in healthy older population, seems to be the learning of a foreign language (see Antoniou et al., 2013; Kroll and Dussias, 2017). As Connor (2016) points out, learning a foreign language can promote thinking skills, increase mental agility and delay the aging of the brain. » (1)
Another study, done by Psychologist Ellen Bialystok and her colleagues at York University in Toronto, explains that bilingual Alzheimer’s patients have symptoms five years later than monolingual patients.
On top of that, their brain seems more protected:
« Once the disease begins to compromise
this region of the brain, bilinguals can continue to function," Bialystok said.
"Bilingualism is protecting older adults, even after Alzheimer's disease is beginning to affect cognitive function." » (2)
For those of you who think that one must have learned a second language as a children know that it is not the case. The same result appears when learning it as an adult.
Now that you know that learning a foreign language is great for your social life and health, are you ready to start?
Have you always dreamt of speaking the Molière language (this is how French people call their language)?
Have you always dreamt of strolling the Paris streets (other small towns are wonderful too)?
Join my French classes next month.
My name is Stephanie, I am a French Native and I have been a teacher since 2000 including a local community college professor.
I have taught French to children and adults in Southern California for 15 years.
My classes are fun & well-organized. No improvisation. I am a real teacher. I plan ahead my lesson plans and I create most of my material so it fits my students’ needs.
In small groups or private classes on Zoom as I am currently located in the South of France (Spanish side).
I am currently taking interests for adult group classes in Perpignan, France.
Feel free to visit my website and contact me via the contact form.
Sources:
Learning a Foreign Language: A Review on Recent Findings About Its Effect on the Enhancement of Cognitive Functions Among Healthy Older Individuals - PMC
Learning a Second Language Protects Against Alzheimer's | Live Science
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