A few years back, I wrote an article that commented upon research conducted by researchers at the University of Waterloo that found that among nuns at Notre Dame, speaking four or more languages nearly eliminated the risk of developing dementia. This was an amazing find for brain science nerds like most of us educators are, and certainly a motivation for the work that we do as multilingual educators. However, oftentimes, we wonder how research we read about translates to our lives and to the lives of our students. Today, I want to share with you how I saw the research regarding the cognitive benefits of multilingualism function in my own family.

This past week, I attended my grandmother’s first death anniversary celebration. She died of dementia, but until the last few days, you could barely tell.

About 8 years ago, my grandmother started getting mixed up while watching television. She thought the actors were real people and that they were conversing with her. In response, my aunt took her to a specialist who submitted her to a brain scan.  Her brain had completely shrunk to a point that the physician was surprised that she could do anything for herself. Given her advanced Alzheimer’s, he gave her six months to live. 

My grandmother, like the nuns at Notre Dame, spoke four languages.  On a daily basis, she spoke to my aunt in our home language, Tamil. She spoke to her son-in-law, who does not know Tamil, in Kannada and read magazines in the same language. She watched television in Hindi and when another uncle of mine went to visit, would speak to him in the same language. My grandmother also knew English, but barely ever spoke it. Therefore, she was not a perfect quadrilingual, but she was close. 

Long after the six months she was given, my grandmother continued to be as independent as a 90-something year old would be expected. I still called her for recipes. She still checked in constantly when I was ill. And even with her advanced Alzheimers, she could look at me and speak Tamil, turn to my uncle to speak Kannada, and then say something to my father in Tamil. She knew exactly who spoke which language and adjusted accordingly. 

All the while, she had a brain that had been devoured by this deadly disease.

Towards the end, years after when she was predicted to move on, she did begin to show actual signs of the disease. She spoke often about going home and about how her parents were calling her. A year ago, she passed away. It took me a year to write this, but the lesson is too large to keep postponing this article. Her life proved what science has been saying forever. Knowing multiple languages will not keep you from contracting Alzheimer’s, but the consistent use of them will help postpone the advent of symptoms.

Most of our students will likely not become polyglots, but we can help them become at least bilingual, knowing that active bilinguals can postpone symptoms of dementia by at least 5 years among the many other benefits of bilingualism. Isn’t that worthwhile?

If you are interested in learning more about how the brain works, about the many benefits of multilingualism, or about the structures and instructional strategies needed to help our students achieve success, check out my book, Puzzle Pieces: A Systems Approach to Multilingual Education. For direct support at your institution, contact me. Let’s make a difference together.