FLORENCE, S.C. — Learning Spanish helps Deborah Moses keep her mind young.
Moses is one of 29 students in Jose Torres’ Spanish class at the Leatherman Senior Center. The class went on a field trip Wednesday to Margarita’s Family Mexican Restaurant, 490 Second Loop in Florence.
Seniors who learn a second language decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, improve brain functions and decision-making skills and can make international travel less stressful. It can also make the senior citizens smarter, according to several studies.
“I joined the Leatherman Center after I retired,” Moses said, “and I signed up for Spanish classes.”
She has been attending the Spanish class since February. Moses is in the beginning Spanish class and has learned colors, numbers and days of the week.
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The beginner’s class meets at 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays at the Leatherman Senior Center. The advanced class meets at 11 a.m. Wednesdays.
It’s important to try new things to exercise the brain as you age, she said.
“It also helps with Alzheimer’s. It staves off Alzheimer’s because you are always exercising that muscle,” Moses said.
A second language is always important, Torres said, because it exercises the mind.
“It’s always good to be memorizing things and doing things. Spanish, I think, is really one of the things we should all be participating in,” Torres said. Learning other languages also is good for the brain.
The students in Torres’ class start with the basics – letters, colors, etc., he said. As they progress, they learn how to listen, comprehend and carry on conversations, he said.
One of the students, Anita White, said she wanted to learn Spanish because she works with seasonal migrant farmworkers in the area.
“Learning the language of the people that I work with has been very helpful to me,” she said.
White has been taken the Spanish class at the Leatherman Senior Center for three years.
“I really feel like I can communicate with someone who is a Spanish speaker,” she said. “Maybe not in a long, extensive conversation, but I would be able to do the basics.”
Maggie Smith is another student in the class. She moved to Florence from the northern portion of New Jersey, which has a large Spanish-speaking population.
Smith said she had been exposed to Spanish for many years. When she moved to Florence, she noticed the Leatherman Senior Center taught Spanish classes.
“It sparked my interest because I had a background in Spanish. This class has helped me learn to slow down and just listen to what someone is saying. If I can only catch a few words of what they are saying it will help me interpret it,” she said.
For more information about the Spanish class, contact the Leatherman Senior Center, 600 Senior Way, in Florence at 843-669-6761.