Inclusion criteria | Aged between 65 and 80 years |
Native language German | |
Living independently | |
Motivated to participate; Signing written informed consent for study participation confirmed by the local ethics committee | |
Exclusion criteria | Spanish level ≥ A1.1 according to the Joint European Reference Frame for Languages or having already attended a regular Spanish course for beginners (≥ 18 h of teaching) |
Bilingualism or multilingualism (def.: fluent command [level ≥ C1 as defined by questions derived from the Joint European Reference Frame for Languages] and frequent usage of any foreign language) | |
Any Romanic language (French, Italian, Latin, Portuguese) level ≥ B1 (as defined by questions derived from the Joint European Reference Frame for Languages) | |
Cognitive functions below cut-off (Cognitive Functions Dementia [CFD] [34, 35]: no subtest z ≤ − 1.5 [36]) according to age and where possible additionally to sex and education | |
Impaired/not-corrected vision | |
Colour blindness | |
Wearing a hearing aid or impaired sense of hearing as measured by the whispered voice test [37] | |
Part-time employment with 20 or more hours of working activity per week | |
Self-reported former or current neurological disease (e.g. stroke, mild cognitive impairment, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, encephalitis, cerebral tumour) | |
Self-reported current/diagnosed mental health disorder (e.g. anxiety disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, alcoholism or other addiction) | |
Transient loss of consciousness for more than five minutes | |
Current musical activity for more than five hours per week | |
Psychotropic medication within the last six months before the start of the study | |
Surgery within the last month before the start of the study | |
Other constraints hindering attendance at both the assessments and intervention appointments |