Languages or Sudoku? The better choice for a healthy brain

语言还是数独?更利于健康大脑的选择

Learn Languages with Steve Kaufmann

2026-06-19

6 分钟
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单集简介 ...

At 80, I'm still learning languages every day, and I'm convinced it does more for your brain than any Sudoku puzzle ever could.
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单集文稿 ...

  • Language learning or Sudoku.

  • So why am I putting those two things together?

  • I'm going to explain.

  • I have an excellent tutor for Persian and every session for say the last 30 minutes of our class she prepares questions.

  • Interesting questions.

  • Questions about life, questions about philosophy, questions about current events.

  • And so it forces me to try and organize my thoughts

  • and express thoughts in Persian on subjects that are usually quite interesting.

  • I don't have to think them up myself.

  • I have to answer her questions.

  • So she asked me, is it a good thing that we are in the information age?

  • So I can't remember what I said,

  • but of course one of the results of the information age is that I'm learning Persian

  • and that I'm connecting with a native speaker of Persian via the internet.

  • And I can source podcasts and other material which I can learn the language

  • from and this is true not only of Persian obviously it's true of all the many languages

  • that people might want to learn so to that extent obviously the information

  • age is a good thing if we use it and take advantage of the good things

  • that are there we also hear of people

  • who are lonely because of the information age because they spend so much time scanning through their Instagram account