Count to 10 in a New Language

Quick Win

The challenge of learning a new language — even if it’s just a brief lesson — can support your brain health.

Try this today

• Choose a method. Use an app, a translating dictionary or a website to learn how to count to 10 in another language.
• Make flash cards. Put the foreign word for the number on one side and the English translation on the other.
• Find a song. Search online for a counting song that helps you remember numbers in the language you’re learning.
• Quiz yourself. When doing a typical activity that involves numbers, such as shopping for groceries or paying for lunch, translate the digits into your new language.

Why

Even a few minutes studying a new language can engage your brain, research suggests. In a study published in PLoS One in 2021, 33 adults ages 22 to 50 were taught a list of 30 new words during a single 18-minute lesson. When they were tested on the material later, imaging revealed activity in several areas of the brain, including the inferior frontal gyrus, a region associated with memory retrieval. The results, the researchers note, “underline the fascinating plasticity of the adult brain during very initial foreign language learning.”