watch the video and answer the questions

We know the brain is constantly changing, but in what way can we ourselves affect this? Jessica is focusing her research on people who use two languages in their daily lives. How is this affecting their memory, to constantly be switching between different vocabularies, changing languages back and forth in an instant, without mixing them up? We would like to see whether people who speak two or more languages, bilinguals, can train their brains, their working memory, and if they can, they might actually have a better life when they get older. Today Jessica works as a research scientist at Umeå University, but this was anything but an obvious choice for her. Her upbringing was far away from here, in the small village of Funestalen, near the Norwegian border. No one in Jessica's family has ever studied at university before, but it is clear early on that Jessica is both curious and loves challenges. For example, when a dance teacher moves to town, Jessica studies dance, and when a fencing teacher moves in, she learns fencing. I think I always felt like you can be whatever you like, and that the sky's the limit.  When bilinguals are changing their attention between two languages, you can think like they are stored in two libraries, so they are shifting their attention. While they're doing that, they also have to inhibit words to come out that are not relevant for the spoken language. When they do these processes, they actually train a certain memory. Jessica's team has begun a series of experiments in order to find out more about the relationship between bilingualism and working memory. We believe that the brain is similar to a muscle, so as long as you practice your second language, you will enhance your strength, but when you start living an inactive life, you lose it. As a child, it was fencing and dance that piqued her curiosity. But right now, it's ice hockey. A sport that Jessica has never played before. But now has gotten her colleagues involved in playing lunch hockey with her once a week. I think I wanted to learn hockey because I'm rather crap at it. And I like challenges. So I thought I just have to train really hard to be good at this. And training is equally important for the brain. Jessica believes that in the future, this new knowledge of how memory functions will reveal to us just how important it is to keep our brains in shape. I believe that when you get older, if you want to have good health, a good healthy brain and a healthy body, you just have to continue challenging yourself and keep on living an active life.

Being Bilingual Might Reduce The Risk of Dementia

being-bilingual-might-reduce-the-risk-of-dementia

Let's do English ESL basic listening: focus on hearing. watch the video and answer the questions