Why to study foreign languages?
“I’d love to speak another language, but…”
Over the years, I’ve heard more reasons not to learn a language than I ever would have imagined. I even used to make excuses for myself, before I learned my first new language, English. So, in my article I’d like to draw your attention to the reason why to study foreign languages is so important, especially English.
Learn Mandarin and you can speak with more than a billion people worldwide. Learn Hindi and you can speak to another 650 million people. Spanish gets you approximately another 420 million. If you already speak English, you would almost be able to speak to half the world’s population! Isn’t it a valuable reason?
Learning a second language opens up a ton of career opportunities. I’m not just talking about freelancing or working location-independently either, though these are excellent ideas which I’ve personally used (and do advise you to try). There are lots of other ways that speaking two or more languages can improve your employment prospects. Even in small, local companies, the chances, that the ability to speak a second language, will set you apart from other applicants do exist. Moreover, you must remember that between two candidates with the exact same skill set and experience, the person who is bilingual is arguably much more likely to get the job.
So, if you want to make good money, study foreign language.
Foreign language would help you not only to make money, but to have rest. I’m sure you’ll share my point of view that travelling is not just about taking pretty pictures and posting them on Facebook or Instagram, or spending a week in a 5-star all-inclusive resort. Learning a foreign language, even as little as a handful of phrases, will make your travel experiences so much better, and I speak from experience when I say this. Not only will the knowledge of the language the locals speak result in warm smiles and invitations for drinks, it might bring you opportunities that you’d never thought could befall you. Best of all, it will enrich your life by offering you a deeper understanding of the culture and history of the people you’ll encounter.
Also, I strongly believe that language and culture are intimately linked. Of course, you can learn a particular geography’s culture without knowing the language, but if you learn another language, you’ll have insight into another culture. Music, movies, food, literature, poetry, theatre, fine arts: the list of fabulous things that culture brings to our lives is endless. You’ll get to “ride on a different bus” and not only see what it’s like inside and even get comfy in there, but get a clear view of your own for the first time.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, meeting new and interesting people and developing life-long friendships (or, who knows, even the love of your life!) are certainly objectives well worth aspiring for, and learning another language is a sure way to expedite that process. Plus, learning a language is fun!
Everybody has different reasons for learning a language (or not). But by now, I hope I’ve managed to convince at least some of you of the amazing rewards that learning another language can bring.