It is commonly accepted that coming from a language rich environment will increase a persons intellectual acumen. But Ill bet you did not know that for those that do not come from such an environment you can read widely to increase your vocabulary and make up for that deficit in your natural environment. Research indicates that having a strong understanding of language will help you with many cognitive tasks and indeed with everyday life. Increasing your vocabulary by reading will increase your understanding of language in a more general sense. Also keep a good dictionary. When you come across words that you do not know or are not familiar with do not be afraid to look it up.