Study: learning foreign language faster during cardio

Geschatte leestijd: 3 minuten

Learning a foreign language is easier and more effective when done during exercise. This is shown by a recent study conducted by Chinese and Italian researchers.

¿dónde está el gimnasio

New! Spanish spinning. Learn Spanish while on vacation during a daily spinning class. Start your day healthy and with an extensive Spanish vocabulary. Hit the beach with a six-pack armed with fluent pickup lines. The personal trainer, language teacher, or hotel owner who pursues such a concept has science on their side. Exercising during language lessons enhances the ability to remember and use words. To get our brains active, it helps to get the body moving. Several studies have shown a connection between improved learning ability and physical activity, both in children and young adults [1,2]. The theory behind this is that exercise adapts the biology of the brain in such a way that it becomes more ‘moldable’ and better able to receive and process information. A property known as plasticity [3]. However, it is unclear which form of exercise yields the greatest improvement in learning ability and whether you should do this exercise before, during, or after learning. To gain more insight into this process, Italian and Chinese researchers studied the ability of adults to learn a language [4]. Young children learn a new language much more easily than adults and the elderly. This is often associated with reduced brain plasticity due to aging, specifically in regions of the brain involved in language use. To see what impact exercise could have on this process, the researchers selected 40 young adult Chinese men and women who were trying to learn English. They were somewhat familiar with the language but were far from being able to have a proper conversation in English. They divided the students into two groups. One group continued learning as usual: sitting down. The other group would also exercise in addition to the lessons. This group started cycling on a spinning bike 20 minutes before the lesson and continued until about 15 minutes after the lesson began. They cycled at a moderate intensity, namely 60% VO2max. Both groups learned by looking at words displayed on large screens along with corresponding pictures. Each lesson presented them with a series of 40 words repeated seven times. The lessons themselves were given 8 times over two months, so about 1 lesson per week. After the lesson, there was a short break followed by a test in which they had to quickly indicate whether the correct word was shown with the correct picture. They also had to indicate whether a displayed sentence was correct or illogical, such as: “The apple is a dentist”. Understanding sentences would indeed be a better indication of language proficiency than the number of words you know. After each lesson, the students who cycled performed better than the sitting students in matching words with images. They also scored better in assessing sentences, although this difference only occurred after several weeks. Especially striking was the long-term effect. Both groups were asked to return after a month without practicing in between. The cycling students proved to be better at remembering words and assessing sentences again.

These results suggest that physical activity during learning improves that learning… These improvements extend beyond simply aiding in memorization. The exercise also deepened language learners’ grasp of how to use their newly acquired words. Simone Sulpizio, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele

Best training to learn?

So far, it is not clear what different effects different types of training have on learning ability. Also, regarding duration, intensity, and timing, there are still many variables to investigate. However, if you want to translate this into practice, you quickly encounter obstacles that can impose limitations on all these variables. Running and writing at the same time is quite difficult. Rowing and writing is impossible. Moreover, I’m only talking about cardio and training at low intensity. Concentrating during a sprint will probably be difficult. Learning molecular physiology during your 1RM bench press is probably not advisable either. Both theoretically and practically, there is still much to learn about maximizing the added value of movement during learning. If the researchers conduct follow-up studies while cycling, developments may progress more quickly.

References

1. Griffin ÉW, Mullally S, Foley C, Warmington SA, O’Mara SM, Kelly AM. Aerobic exercise improves hippocampal function and increases BDNF in the serum of young adult males. Physiol Behav. 2011 Oct 24;104(5):934-41. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.06.005. Epub 2011 Jun 23. PubMed PMID: 21722657.
2. Hillman CH, Pontifex MB, Castelli DM, Khan NA, Raine LB, Scudder MR, Drollette ES, Moore RD, Wu CT, Kamijo K. Effects of the FITKids randomized controlled trial on executive control and brain function. Pediatrics. 2014 Oct;134(4):e1063-71. doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-3219. PubMed PMID: 25266425; PubMed Central PMCID:PMC4179093.
3. Green CS, Bavelier D. Exercising Your Brain: A Review of Human Brain Plasticity and Training-Induced Learning. Psychology and aging. 2008;23(4):692-701. doi:10.1037/a0014345.
4. It takes biking to learn: Physicalactivity improves learning a second language. Liu F, Sulpizio S, Kornpetpanee S, Job R (2017) It takes biking to learn: Physical activity improves learning a second language.. PLOS ONE 12(5): e0177624. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177624