Should we offer language classes on the NHS? Could bilingualism be more beneficial than medication when it comes to a strong, healthy brain and is monolingualism making us ill? In this Brainwaves, Pennie Latin meets the man behind those bold ideas. Dr Thomas Bak is Reader in Psychology at the University of Edinburgh and clinical research fellow at the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic. A plurilingualist and Gaelic learner, originally from Poland, now based in Scotland his work focuses on the interaction between bilingualism and cognitive functions across our lifetime, in particular the effects of language learning in delaying diseases such as dementia.