The number of languages you speak could speed up — or slow down — your biological aging.
Scientists just uncovered another reason to keep up your Duolingo streak: Speaking multiple languages may support your longevity by potentially slowing biological aging, according to the results of an extensive November 2025 study published in Nature Aging.
The Context
Multilingualism has frequently been investigated for its potential ability to improve cognitive functioning and offset its decline. In 2013, researchers analyzed the case records of 648 patients with dementia and discovered that the individuals who were bilingual developed the disease four and a half years later than those who were monolingual. Published in Neurology, the research also showed that this effect on dementia onset age was independent of variables like education, sex, and occupation, among others. Other recent studies have found links between speaking multiple languages and improved working memory and executive control.
Still, the authors of the new Nature Aging analysis state the evidence thus far has been mixed, and previous studies have complications like small sample sizes, a focus on clinical populations, or a lack of control for confounding variables.
The Details
To more thoroughly study the impacts of multilingualism on longevity, the researchers created biobehavioral age gaps, aka BBAGs. BBAGs quantify the difference between someone’s predicted age, considering individual-level factors known to affect biological aging, and their chronological age. The BBAGs in this study were based upon both protective (e.g., education, functional ability, physical activity, cognition) and adverse factors (e.g., cardiometabolic conditions, sleep problems, sensory loss).
Then, the team used these BBAGs, as well as country-level multilingualism data, to determine delayed or accelerated aging in more than 86,100 people across 27 European countries.
RELATED: The Equinox Longevity Assessment
The Key Findings
Through their research, the authors determined multilingualism to be a protective factor against accelerated aging. The finding was evident in both cross-sectional analyses, which look at data from a population at a single point in time, and longitudinal analyses, which study data from a population over time.
Compared to monolinguals, the participants from countries where people are commonly multilingual were 2.17 times less likely to experience accelerated aging in the cross-sectional analysis. Monolingualism, however, increased the risk of early aging two-fold. These effects held true even after the researchers accounted for other social, physical, and sociopolitical conditions that can affect health across a lifetime.
Being bilingual is just the start. “The protective effect was cumulative — the more languages people spoke, the greater their protection against aging-related decline,” the lead author Lucia Amoruso, Ph.D., said in a press release.
The Impact
These new findings suggest that learning a new language is not just a valuable life skill; it’s a budget-friendly, relatively accessible practice that may improve longevity without requiring drastic lifestyle changes, much like eating a plant-based diet or prioritizing exercise. What’s more, learning a new language “complement[s] other modifiable factors such as creativity and education,” according to co-lead author Hernán Hernández.
RELATED: Stay Sharp for Life
The Expert Insight
In a press release, senior author Agustín Ibáñez, Ph.D., the scientific director of the Latin American Brain Health Institute and a professor of global brain health at Trinity College Dublin, stated: “Our results provide strong evidence that multilingualism functions as a protective factor for healthy aging. Language learning and use engage core brain networks related to attention, memory, and executive control — as well as social interaction — mechanisms that may reinforce resilience throughout life.”
The Caveat
While the sweeping study pulled data from a large population and corrected for confounding variables that could affect results, the explored association between multilingualism and delayed aging is just that — a link. Additional studies that go beyond observational data will be needed to solidify a potential cause-and-effect relationship. Considering, however, the other potential benefits of multilingualism and its low-risk nature, you might as well pick up a beginner-level textbook from the library.