If You Want to Learn Languages Better, Just Go to Bed

Language lovers have a tendency to let learning a new language keep us up late at night (or, in my case, up too early) studying.

Sleep-deprivation for study is not a new thing.

Well, it turns out that sleep is actually pretty important.

According to a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience by researchers at the University of South Australia (UniSA), sleep is a critical component of language learning.

In what appears to be the same way as trauma processing (hence the rise of therapies like EMDR), while we’re sleeping, our brains are actually working overtime to consolidate new language that we’ve learned.

Sleep is when we take everything we learned during the day and process it correctly.

The UniSA study

In the study, 35 native English-speaking adults were asked to learn a small conlang (made up language) called Mini Pinyin, inspired by Mandarin but structured similarly to English.

Half of the participants studied the language in the morning and returned in the evening to test their memory.

The other half studied in the evening, slept overnight in a lab (with their brain activity recorded), and were tested the following morning.

The results?

Those who got a good night’s sleep (in the lab) after learning outperformed the group that stayed awake.

The researchers were able to pinpoint a specific reason: during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, our brains coordinate two types of brainwave patterns — slow oscillations and sleep spindles — to enhance memory consolidation.

Essentially, these brainwaves help transfer learned information from the hippocampus (our brain’s short-term memory center) to the cortex, where long-term memories are stored.

Dr. Zachariah Cross, the lead researcher, explained that this synchronization of brainwave patterns is like a “handshake” between different parts of the brain.

This process not only solidifies the vocabulary and grammar rules we’ve studied but also prepares our brains to tackle even more complex language tasks.

Sleep isn’t just about getting some rest

Rest is only part of the reason why we need sleep.

In the same way that sleep is crucial for muscle growth after weight training, it’s just as important for brain growth as well.

We often think of it as downtime for our brains, but it’s actually an active and transformative state.

Dr. Scott Coussens, another researcher on the study, emphasized that sleep isn’t just restful; it’s when the brain does some of its most critical work.

By supporting memory consolidation, sleep helps us grasp complex linguistic rules and build a foundation for fluency.

Other implications

This study doesn’t just have implications for polyglots.

The findings could also help people with language-related impairments, such as those with aphasia or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who often experience sleep disturbances.

By understanding how sleep supports language learning (and memory in general), researchers could develop new treatments and therapies (EMDR mentioned above may be one such example) — potentially even using methods like transcranial magnetic stimulation to enhance slow oscillations in the brain.

These insights could transform how we approach education and cognitive rehabilitation.

Schooling should prioritize sleep after learning new material or therapy programs integrating sleep science for faster processing.

This is something that I personally find fascinating as a homeschool parent.

How can this apply to your own language learning?

If you’re learning a new language, this research should give you something to think about.

Are you getting enough sleep?
Are you treating sleep like a critical component to your study?
Is your learning time structured in such a way as to take advantage of this?

Here are a few tips to maximize your sleep’s learning benefits:

Study before bed: Review vocabulary, grammar and so on in the evening. This way your brain has fresh content to consolidate while you sleep.
Prioritize NREM sleep: This stage of sleep is crucial for memory consolidation. Aim for 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep to ensure your brain gets enough exposure to this phase.
Create a sleep-friendly environment: Ditch the screens before bed (study with pen and paper ideally), keep your room cool and dark, and stick to a consistent sleep schedule to optimize your rest.