There are so many great reasons for learning a foreign language that we thought we’d bring you ten of the best! Learning a foreign language could really be a great idea and in ways that perhaps you hadn’t considered. We think that to just remain monolingual, like other things in life, just forces self-constrained limitations on you. We live in a fantastically richly cultures world and we should all strive to understand and learn as much about our world’s diversity as possible. By not learning a foreign language you could limit your communication and thinking skills but more importantly, you may miss out on a whole host of opportunities for personal, professional, social and economic development and success. Sick and tired of reading things like “Cold shredded children and sea blubber in spicy sauce” on menus? There are many foreign languages that you could choose to earn – French, Spanish or English for example. Here is why you should be learning a foreign language.
1. To Widen your Understanding
Learning a foreign language allows you to fully appreciate the culture and its context of a country. By understanding a person’s culture, for example, you can avoid situations which could cause misunderstandings. Such events have been widely documented in the press over recent years and companies like HSBC have built successful advertising campaigns based on understanding cultural differences. Being able to understand other cultures and through learning a foreign language you can bridge the gap between cultures, which would be a powerful tool in today’s modern world. It is interesting to note that 52.7% of Europeans are fluent in at least two languages, whereas only 9.3% of Americans.
2. Improve your Employability
A fundamental element of business is being able to sell a product. Selling is all well and good in your own country, but what happens when it comes to selling in a foreign market? To sell you must understand the values and morals of the people you are selling to. We live in a truly global economy and companies constantly expanding overseas. A more recent development is the globalisation of countries from less developed countries, such as China and Thailand, to English speaking countries. These factors create strong demand for multilingual employees – businesses need you and are willing to pay for you!
Despite what career you choose on, or whatever your life aims, it’s obvious that learning a foreign language certainly won’t hurt you. The likelihood is that job opportunities would open up to you that wouldn’t have and what’s for sure is that you will have much more earning power. And at the very least, you certainly will stand out against a monolingual job candidate.
3. Better your own Language skills
Research has shown that having an understanding of a foreign language also helps your native language development. It has been found that students can develop better vocabularies and an improved level of literacy all through studying a foreign language. In fact, studies have shown that students’ exam scores – such as SATs – have improved year-on-year for every year a foreign language is studied.
4. Develop life skills
Learning a foreign language involves different learning skills and helps develop key skills through listening, writing and reading. This in turn will help actually help you improve in other areas too. Your general reading and mental skills improve through studying a language. In fact, if studied from a young age, there will be a very noticeable benefit to cognitive development, such as creativity, problem-solving and reasoning. But in addition to these skills, learning a foreign language will give you important life skills. You will be better able to adapt and cope with changes and to deal with unfamiliar and new situations. You will also find that you are better able to communicate with people from all walks of life.
5. Stand out when Applying for Higher Education
Being able to show to University Admission Clerks that you have previously studied a foreign language could add significant weight to your applications. You will show that you are a more rounded and educated person – the sort of thing that Admission Clerks absolutely love.
If you are looking to study a postgraduate for example, a foreign language may well be a prerequisite of admission. This is especially relevant for those students considering PhD applications as research is often published in books and professional journals around the globe.
6. Discover Entertainment from Around the World
There are so many great books, films and music from many counties around the world. A translation or dub is just not the same as many elements of language simply can’t be translated literally from one language to another. To be able to access the world’s great wealth of literature, music, film and theatre you should do them justice and enjoy them in their original form. Learning a foreign language will certainly open your eyes to amazing things.
7. Enjoy Travelling
Being able to travel and fully immerse yourself in the country and culture is a fantastic way to holiday. Being able to “go native”, taking part in the everyday life of regular residents. Of course, we all know it is possible to travel anywhere these days without speaking the native language. But, if you don’t speak English then, well, you’ll struggle to say the least. The language barrier can be anywhere from mildly frustrating to dangerous and intimidating. Having studied a foreign language you will feel comfortable in ordering food, understanding directions, being able to fully travel on public transport and save considerable money and maybe even batter for things in shops. In fact, many people often appreciate it when you communicate in their language – or in some cases, at least try! And remember, if you really want to explore a country and get away from all the tourist traps, you’re definitely going to need to know the language. Perhaps one of the best reasons for studying a foreign language don’t you think?
8. Being able to study Overseas
If you choose to study a foreign language you needn’t study it at expensive, limited schools in your own country. Why not combine your studies with travelling and find out about study abroad programmes? You’ve made it this far through our Top 10 list and if you’re beginning to think you should be studying a foreign language this could well be the option for you. You could be studying English in London, French in Paris or Chinese in Beijing. The opportunities are endless.
The benefits of studying a foreign language in a study overseas programme is that you will be practicing all the time – as soon as you step out the classroom you will be putting what you learnt into practice. Compared to studying in a school in your own country, the benefits are two-fold: much quicker development of your language skills and the chance to study the foreign language’s culture and context.
9. Increase your Understanding of your own Culture
If you study a foreign language and its culture, you will be able to see your own culture from another perspective. Encountering other cultures will allow you to question things that you’ve taken to be universal. Studying a foreign language will give you the unique opportunity of stepping outside the boundary of your everyday life. Experiences of other cultures and your personal development through the study of a foreign language will greatly shape your identity and heighten your self-awareness
10. Make life-time Friendships
Studying a foreign language and all the opportunities it can bring will definitely increase the number of people on the globe who you can meet and communicate with. Be it meeting international students, immigrants in your community and establishing new relationships with people overseas, studying a foreign language really can change your life for the better.
So you’ve read our 10 good reasons why you should be learning a foreign language and been nodding your head all the way? Great! You have seen how studying a foreign language can richly develop you and your life. So what are you waiting for, read more about studying other foreign languages and study abroad programmes.