The benefits of speaking multiple languages - What in the World podcast, BBC World Service

Most people in the world speak more than one language and many countries have more than one official national language. But what is it like living as a polyglot? And what advantages can it bring to your health?

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BBC journalist Victoria Uwonkunda describes what it was like growing up as a polyglot and how she deals with speaking multiple languages in her daily life.

Turkish polyglot İclal Dağcı, who speaks nine languages, tells us why she learned so many and how she uses music to master the ones she found difficult.

Plus, Professor Frédérique Liégeois, a cognitive neuroscientist at University College London, explains the effect speaking multiple languages has on your brain, and how it could help maintain brain health as you get older.

00:00 Introduction
01:15 What languages Victoria speaks
02:14 Idioms and expressions in various languages
03:02 İclal Dağcı on why she loves learning languages
03:53 How Victoria knows all the languages she speaks
06.35 Professor Frédérique Liégeois on the advantages of learning multiple languages
08:00 Victoria on the benefits of knowing multiple languages
09:13 Victoria on learning to speak Norwegian
12:15 Professor Frédérique Liégeois on why it’s harder for adults to learn languages
12:45 Dreaming in multiple languages
14:18 The challenges when learning a language
15:12 Lisa from Ling on which languages are difficult and which aren’t
16:44 Victoria’s tips to learn a new language
17:48 Conclusion

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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: Emily Horler, William Lee Adams, Mora Morrison, Emilia Jansson and Elena Angelides
Video Journalists: Beatrice Guzzardi and Adam Chowdhury
Editor: Verity Wilde

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This podcast was edited on 07 March 2025.

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