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Struggling to learn another language? Alcohol can help

Yes, you read that correctly. A new study has revealed that moderate alcohol consumption could help you to master another language, Time reports.

This could be the best news we’ve heard all week… [Photo: Getty]
This could be the best news we’ve heard all week… [Photo: Getty]

The groundbreaking experiment, which was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, involved 50 German participants who had recently learned how to speak Dutch.

Each member of the study stated that they drink occasionally and proved that they had recently passed a Dutch language proficiency exam.

During the experiment, half of the participants were given a small amount of alcohol at random while the other half received a non-alcoholic drink. Participants were given varying quantities of alcohol in correlation with their weight.

The group were then asked to have a two-minute recorded conversation with an interviewer in Dutch. The recording was then rated by two native Dutch speakers and the participants.

Participants who consumed a low-level amount of alcohol had better fluency and pronunciation [Photo: Getty]
Participants who consumed a low-level amount of alcohol had better fluency and pronunciation [Photo: Getty]

Interestingly, alcohol had no effect on the speakers’ self confidence. However, findings revealed that those who consumed alcohol had better fluency and pronunciation than those who did not.

On the other hand, ratings for vocabulary and grammar were similar between the two groups.

It is not known whether speech improved as a consequence to the alcohol’s biological or psychological effects, Time emphasised.

Also, the study did not measure the participants’ emotional states and the study’s authors state that it is possible that low doses of alcohol ‘reduce language anxiety’.

We don’t know about you but we’ll take this as solid proof that we can have a guilt-free night out next weekend.

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