According to reports we’ve gathered online, British and Dutch researchers have conducted an experiment and then recently published a paper in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
A low dose of alcohol can help people speak a foreign language more fluently, researchers claim.
In a Unilad article, we read that the research involved 50 native German speakers who were studying at Maastricht University, “in the Netherlands near the border with Germany. All the participants occasionally drank alcohol and have passed a language proficiency test in Duty as part of their requirements.
The volunteers were divided into two groups.
“One group was given a glass of water and the other just under a pint of beer, before they were put to task having a chat with a native Dutch speaker in the participants’ non-native language,” reported Unilad.
The conversations were recorded and graded by two native Dutch speakers.
These observers were left entirely clueless about which participants drank alcohol and which ones were sober.
The paper later told us:
“Participants who consumed alcohol had significantly better observer-ratings for their Dutch language, specifically better pronunciation, compared with those who did not consume alcohol.”
Research authors Fritz Renner, Inge Kersbergen, Matt Field, and Jessica Werthmann, believe that a small amount of alcohol indeed affects proficiency as it helps reduce language anxiety.
They further wrote:
“This might enable foreign language speakers to speak more fluently in the foreign language after drinking a small amount of alcohol.
“Acute alcohol consumption may have beneficial effects on the pronunciation of a foreign language in people who have recently learned that language.”
