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When using the language learning app Duo Lingo messages often popup when the lessons are loading. One of those messages that pop up is the claim

Learning a language improves memory and concentration skills

Is this true?

Image of claim made in Duo Lingo

Image from duo lingo app

user1605665
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    @WeatherVane 'Require' is different from 'improve', though. At least, if this was an ad I would have expected them to spell the name of the organization correctly, since it's supposed to be *one* word, not two. – Onyz Dec 04 '19 at 17:03
  • @weather this happens to be a common belief, though. It can be found in dozens of sources. It is also one that has a real potential for empirical verification though standardized tests of memory, concentration, literacy, intelligence, or similar constructs, e.g. "Subjects who spent the summer studying French on Duolingo averaged an increase in 10 points on Johnson's Elite Memory Test Mark IV, while control subjects who spent the summer doing other things on average gained only one or two." – Robert Columbia Dec 04 '19 at 19:19
  • @ColumbiasaysReinstateMonica I'll take that out then. – Weather Vane Dec 04 '19 at 19:20
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    Does this claim learning a language improves these things more than learning something else? I would expect learning anything improves memory and concentration skills, since that is what is exercised? – kutschkem Dec 05 '19 at 09:47
  • @kutschkem that is more or less what I wrote. – Weather Vane Dec 05 '19 at 19:53
  • Related claim, about bilingualism and Alzheimer’s: https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/26878/does-bilingualism-prevent-alzheimers – Andrew Grimm Dec 06 '19 at 08:00

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