Is it worth learning foreign languages? Of course it is! And there are many reasons for this. In this article I have tried to list the most important of them.
Knowing a foreign language is important when getting to know someone.
There is nothing surprising about knowing a foreign language, if you think about it. In many countries, bilingualism (and even trilingualism), is the norm. The ability to speak a foreign language makes a very favorable impression – both on friends and family, and on potential employers. Of course, this should not be the main reason for learning a language, otherwise your motivation will quickly evaporate, but it is a nice bonus.
Knowing a foreign language gives confidence
While learning a foreign language is not an easy thing to do, it’s very rewarding and can really boost your self-esteem and self-confidence. In the process you will have to overcome your laziness and insecurity more than once, meet new people and quite possibly go on a trip you wouldn’t have otherwise dared. No matter what anyone promises, you can’t learn a foreign language in a week or even a month. In most cases, a noticeable effect appears not until 3-4 months of regular exercise – a regular exercise for a long time – a great chance to develop willpower and self-control. The more often you train these qualities, the stronger they become. Agree that no one needs confidence in their abilities and time management skills!
Learning foreign languages is a self-development
There have been studies in Sweden which clearly show the correlation between learning a foreign language and the growth of certain parts of the brain. The program of training of military interpreters in Sweden is very intensive: the students have 13 months to learn a new foreign language. And given the specifics of their job, the language needs to be learned not at the level of being able to explain themselves to hotel staff or read the morning paper, but really well, at the level of dealing with issues related to international security. MRI scans that were performed on the students before and after 3 months of intensive instruction showed growth in the hippocampus and three different cortical areas. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system of the brain, which is responsible for, among other things, storing information in long-term memory and orientation in space. Interestingly, the students who had the most significant brain growth learned language faster than others in the group.
There are also studies that show that the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in bilinguals appear on average 4.5 years later than in those who speak only one language.
All of these changes are certainly very positive. Perhaps for some people they will be an additional argument for learning a foreign language?
Travel
Travel does not have to be limited to a week in a hotel and pictures of yourself against the backdrop of sights. Knowing a foreign language, even at an elementary level, will completely change your travel experience. Firstly, it is convenient because you will be able to explain yourself at the airport, hotel and cafes, to ask for directions from passersby, and to communicate with vendors in stores. Secondly, it will give you more freedom, allow you to meet new people, and wander into unpopular with tourists, but this is no less (and often much more!) interesting places.
Growth in the quarry
Here everything is obvious. Knowledge of a foreign language now offers significant advantages in employment in many areas. If you want to work in a multinational corporation, you’re much more likely to get a good position if you speak at least English, not to mention the fact that a good command of two or three languages will open up interesting career prospects for you.
Decent education and residence permits abroad
Did you know that as of the 2014/2015 academic year, higher education in Germany is free for everyone, including foreign students? And that in some programs you can study not only in German but also in English? Or that universities in France have free programs that you can enter without entrance examinations? That some Dutch universities give grants that fully cover the cost of Master’s degree? This list could go on for a long time, as there are now plenty of opportunities in Europe to get a fairly high quality higher education for free, or for a reasonable fee. Why not take advantage of them?
When you study a language, you begin to better understand the country (or countries) where it is used to communicate. The better you know the language, history and culture of the country, the more chances you have to objectively assess whether moving to that country is worthwhile in your case and – if you do decide to move – the easier it will be for you to find the best way to obtain a residence permit.
If you are moving after a family member, for example because your other half has been offered a good job in a country whose language you do not know, it is a good idea to start learning the language as soon as possible and not before you have to move. Even a mediocre grasp of the language will make your life much easier and soften the inevitable culture shock.
New Acquaintances
Learning a new language is a great chance to make new friends with whom you wouldn’t otherwise have – literally – a common language. You will inevitably connect with new people. These include those who are learning the language with you, your teachers and those with whom you interact on various online language learning resources. Plus you are much more likely to travel, and any trip is always a new encounter. Even if you thought you would be playing at a casino abroad, or at an online casino like the one at Rabona Casino in Europe, English is one of the most universal languages and you can easily communicate with the players or the dealers, getting a lot of great emotions and experiences. Do not forget about the romantic interest. No matter how you look at it, the chance of meeting your soul mate increases, simply because your social circle expands considerably.
Language is the surest key to another culture. We live in a global technogenic world, which is rapidly becoming smaller and smaller, and the ability to understand people who belong to another culture is becoming a vital necessity. People are inherently afraid of what they do not know. The better you get to know the life, values, and ways of life of other peoples, the more obvious it becomes that the differences between people are not as great as they may seem at first sight.
Foreign languages offer a wide variety of literature
Many films and television series make a much better impression if watched in their original language. Also, there are a huge number of foreign language periodicals available for free on the Internet, both in major national languages as well as smaller, highly specialized ones. Again, if you speak English well, do an experiment sometime. Compare the main news of the same day in, say, a major Russian, British, American, Indian, and Australian newspaper. Most likely, you will be quite surprised at how different they offer a picture of the world. It’s not so much how a news story is covered as it is which news stories are considered important or not so important. And what a gorgeous selection of online radio stations there is right now – in any language, and for any taste!
Also, do not forget that the 21st century – is the age of education, including continuing self-education. Here knowledge of English helps a lot, because on many topics in English you can find much more information than in any other language.
Expanding your personal horizons
Learn languages for all the new opportunities you are bound to have – that you can’t even imagine yet. If you feel that you want to change something in your life, but you don’t know how to do it, just start doing something new for yourself. If you want to get somewhere, the main thing is to just start walking down the road. It’s quite possible that you’ll end up not at all where you imagined. But this is not necessarily bad news. It’s quite possible that the new destination will turn out to be a pretty good option as well. It works 100% with learning languages. Just start learning them, put your heart and soul into it, don’t stop when things go wrong, and new horizons – including ones you didn’t know you had before – will open up on their own.