Why should anyone learn a foreign language?
What is the point, does it have any benefits and to be frankly blunt…
Is it even worth the effort to learn a second language?
Many questions like this arise when the idea of learning another language comes into play and I can’t blame you.
Trying to learn a completely different language from your mother tongue, or your birth tongue, seems like an adventure not many are willing to take on.
But if you’re reading this you may already be on the side of wanting to learn a language and don’t need any motivation…
Or maybe you’re on the fence and you want to know what it’s worth before taking on this whelming task.
I will say for myself learning a language can be daunting at times and I think if you really want to learn a language you should think of it in regards to the long term.
I’m not saying you can’t learn a language quickly, but what I am saying is if you want to learn a second language and enjoy the process than you should think of it as a long term goal.
Especially if you want to really feel comfortable and at a conversational level.
When I was a kid I had spanish classes in school and I learned a few words here and there but I never used it in my practical life.
To be honest I didn’t really much care even though I grew up in Miami where there were plenty of opportunities for me to practice.
Yet deep down I didn’t want to.
Therefore I only learned what I needed to pass the class.
Until I found out in high school that they were introducing chinese as an option.
I immediately jump at the opportunity and switched my language elective to Chinese.
I became more determined and focused to learn because I felt that I now had more benefits to learning chinese.
Not only was my nationality part chinese, but I felt that by understanding the language and the culture I could learn more about myself with the things my parents didn’t know.
Sadly I am still on the adventure of learning Chinese but I now know how to approach it now.
And that is what this post is all about
We are going to go over some of the benefits you can gain from learning a foreign language.
I know everyone has their own personal ambitions and goals, but I think there are still some general benefits that apply to all learners and any language.
What is a foreign language?
Before we begin anything and start diving into what the benefits are, I want to break down a few simple ideas about languages and studying them.
For instance, what is a foreign language?
I know this seems so trivial and elementary but that is the thing about learning a language.
Words are the primary makeup of a language and when you understand the history and context of them you can begin to see the connections and relationships words have with the culture and the people.
This relationship also transcends the target language because words in other languages may have a connection to another.
It’s actually quite amazing when you begin to notice them.
But to begin with our definition of a foreign language we can start off with…
According to a few sources a foreign language is defined as a language different from a person’s mother tongue or commonly spoken in the country of the speaker.
Does that make sense?
So for this example I was born in America and the native language of course is English, or if you were born in Brazil the native language there would be portuguese.
Simple right?
Yea I know.
So with knowing that let’s dive into some facts on how the brain actually develops and acquires a language
How the brain learns a language
So how does the brain operate when speaking a language.
Well if you haven’t noticed it’s actually an unconscious or automated process.
Meaning you don’t even have to think before you want to say or form a sentence.
It’s actually quite an amazing feature if you ask me.
I mean think about it the next time you say something.
The process is so fast you don’t even notice the thought or the idea you’re trying to convey before it is even said.
For example have you ever said something before you fully thought the idea out.
Well in fact, it is the opposite: your brain processed the idea so fast, unconsciously, that you didn’t have time to “consciously” think through the statement.
That is absolutely amazing!
But when learning a language it’s actually quite the opposite.
A language learner now has to actively learn the new language and “consciously” formulate and identify the new words and phrases to the native tongue.
Due to this process it can take some time to store this information into the unconscious section of the brain.
How this works is initially the person learning and trying to speak the new language consciously thinks of the phrase and as it formulates the words…
The subconscious then begins to kick in to correct any errors if it has stored this information.
And over time you have stored enough information in the subconscious to access it when needed on command.
Is learning a second language worth it?
So even though the brain or the unconscious mind might take some time to store this information fully into the brain is it even worth it?
To sum it up…
YES.
Even though it takes time and effort to consciously learn the new language you won’t regret your efforts.
Studies have shown that for information to be retained in the long term portion of the brain relationships need to be associated with the thing…
And social interactions are the best way especially when learning a new language.
I mean you are learning another language and when you do that, you cannot help but speak to someone in order to use it right?
These interactions are crucial in learning and creates strong relationships for the brain to aid in acquiring a language.
Think of a child how they interact with their environment and parents and how they are able to adapt and acquire a language so quickly.
Not only can you acquire a language easier with this process but did you know there are even health benefits to learning a language as well which you can read more about here.
But with that said, let’s dive into some of the top reasons why learning a language is important and beneficial.
12 Reasons why learning a foreign language is important
1. Improve your mind and your memory
The mind and the brain is an amazing thing and we as humans have barely tapped into the abilities of what we can do with it.
One of my favorite movies is Limitless with Bradley Cooper who discovers a pill that enables him to access more of his mental capabilities and completely enables him to transform his life…
Despite some of the obstacles that came his way.
But learning a language actually can have some similar effects to the brain as well.
To begin, because learning a new language can be so complex the brain begins to develop new patterns which then leads to you developing problem solving skills.
As you learn a language you are trying to figure out how the language works in order for you to apply it in everyday conversations and situations.
Thus developing solutions to problems.
In addition to adding new vocabulary, phrases, and sentence structures; the mind stores this information into the subconscious which, along the way, helps to create quicker recall whenever it’s needed.
The brain is like a muscle so the more you use it the more you develop it and it becomes stronger.
In fact, even though I am not a firm believer in multitasking because I don’t believe you can do something at the same time consciously, you are only switching the tasks, but when you learn a language this becomes easier.
The reason behind this is because you will now have two languages that you will need to access when needed, therefore you will be able to switch to the desired language.
There are also studies that have shown knowing another language has helped to deter dementia later in years.
If that doesn’t convince you how about an increase in your attention span.
Since you’re learning a language it takes more effort to listen and understand what is being communicated therefore overall your attention increases as well but we will go over more on this in another benefit.
2. Expand your native language
So you may have mastered your native tongue, or the language you grew up speaking but do you really know everything about your mother tongue?
Trust me as I started learning spanish I truly began to see the relationships between words and why they were named the way they were.
Its quite an interesting perspective once you find out and I think it makes learning the language even more fun and memorable.
For example in spanish one word for pen is “pluma” but that word is also used for feather.
If you think about it what were the first ink pens made out of…
You got it feathers.
I know my mind was blown too when I first discovered it and I just learned it a few weeks ago lol.
But another thing you probably won’t notice until you start studying another language is the make up of a language and how it differs.
Yes those english classes actually have some meaning behind it now smh.
You begin to see sentence structures, the grammar and the use of verbs and their conjugations.
None of that means nothing to you when you know the language but as you study another you find how different they are, or at times very similar.
Regardless of the language you begin to see the differences in how you are able to communicate in your native tongue with subtle movements, gestures, and expressions apart from the new language.
3. Connect with other cultures
So this one may be a given but when you learn another language you can’t help but to get to learn about the culture.
Especially if you begin to speak to other people of the country or language your learning.
Your language partner can’t help but express the different customs theirs are compared to yours.
You may even begin to see how the world is really connected deep down and how we think and do similar things.
Language is the direct connection to other cultures.
Getting to know a language is how you are able to connect with someone else from another country and it is by this connection that friendships and communities are built.
Language learners open themselves to the world around them and in doing this you find a deeper connection through the history, art, traditions, and even gain understanding of others and even empathy.
I believe you get to learn more oof yourself when you learn another language.
4. Understand the source of words
Did you know that there are more than 6,000 spoken languages in the world?
This then brings the question to mind…
“Why wouldn’t we want to learn another apart from your mother tongue?”
And with all these languages around the world its safe to say that not all words are made the same.
Luckily most words are almost standardized meaning the word for fire in another language will mean fire in your language as well…
But there are some words and expressions that are not easily translated.
However, learning a language will give you a new perspective on the origin of words.
For example, I gave an example earlier about the word “pluma” for pen in Spanish which also represents a bird’s feather and how they used feathers for pens in older times.
Thus pluma can be used for the word pen.
Well, another example I will like to discuss would be the days of the week.
Did you know the days of the week are based on the greek names for the planets?
I only discovered this when speaking with my language lord partner about the days of the week and they were similar in french as well.
For example, in Spanish the word for Monday is lunes but the word “luna” also represents the word for moon….
Then we started to look into the other days of the week
Martes (Tuesday) is similar to the name for…
Can you guess?
Yup, Mars and it’s the same for the rest of the days of the week.
Are you seeing the relationship?
You can even find similar features in the english language with Monday or if we want to break it up Mon day or…
Moon day : ).
Are you now catching my point?
Therefore, I believe when you begin to study another language you gain new perspectives on why an object or a thing is described with a specific word.
Then you can begin to see why and how the structure of the language is made and it can even improve your mother tongue.
5. Better career opportunities
Ok let’s talk about job opportunities.
I know when I first started looking for a job and creating my resume I was always told to put something interesting that will help you stand out.
I never knew what to put but let’s think about this for a second.
If you are able to say that you can speak another language, and not just the 2 credits you had to take in school, but you can actually communicate in the language…
Then this is a clear indication that you stand out.
Not only do you receive the benefits on this list, but when you can show that you know another language that actually speaks volume.
Learning a language is not an easy task so that alone shows you are a hard worker, self motivated, and you take initiative to reach your goals.
Plus its a great conversation starter when they ask how you learned the language and why you wanted to learn.
You are already presenting yourself as an interesting person, but let’s not forget to mention some of the other benefits a language can have on your career.
Even if you are not using your linguistic skills on the job it is said by the mere fact that learning a language helps in your work and academic performance…
Such as problem solving and multitasking, as mentioned in the first benefit.
This can definitely aid in the productivity of your work.
But if you are looking for jobs that you can directly apply your skills here are 11 jobs you can look into if you are interested.
6. Strengthen your decision making
So how does a language help your decision making?
Well that’s a great question.
Here’s an example of how making a decision can work.
Let’s say you started speaking the other language you’re learning with your new language partner and while practicing you have to decipher what words to put together and structure them in an understandable sentence.
You then come across a word that you need but there is a problem.
There are two words that actually mean the same thing but can differ based on the context of the statement.
Be aware this is all happening in your mind while speaking to your language partner.
You now have to make a decision which is the best choice for this situation.
You choose the second option, but unfortunately you are wrong.
But getting the answer wrong is not what we are focused on here.
The fact remains that you were stuck between 2 options and needed to make a choice.
And you did, despite being wrong.
There were so many factors that you had to process through to get to that decision.
But now the next time you come across that same situation you will now have more information to know which is the best word to choose from…
But in hindsight this process is actually helping you to develop how you make decisions in other areas.
Within every decision we are presented with a set of facts and information that we have to filter through to get to our final judgement.
Because when learning another language we have to pay attention to the subtle nuances and expressions from other cultures and make decisions based on the facts that we gather.
In turn, this same critical thinking process transfers to you being more aware and attentive to what’s important in order to make a decision based on facts and not merely emotion.
This article dives more into the idea how knowing another language helps in decision making.
7. Boost confidence
This benefit hits home personally for me.
When learning a language the hardest part is trying to speak.
I mean you want to sound perfect but I have news for everyone trying to learn…
It’s not going to happen!!!
You are going to make mistakes and think that you sound horrible at first, but in the beginning it is a part of the process.
It all started for me when I was afraid to reach out to people and say anything.
I then thought about what I really wanted, which was to speak another language.
So I decided to just go for it and dive in.
Then something funny happened.
From my experience when I spoke to native speakers they were really helpful and supportive.
They even complimented me how my progress was very good and my accent was as well.
Hearing comments like this from native speakers truly gave me the confidence to continue.
I began to reach out to more people, practice individually, and start more conversations to have as much practice as I could.
I can say that the more you do it the easier it will get and you will almost look forward to making mistakes.
Its how we grow and…
You will also realize that it’s not as bad you think.
In fact, it becomes more fun when you see it’s not as hard as you thought and people are friendlier than you thought when you try to speak their language.
8. Teaches communication & social skills
Coming in at number 8 is communication.
Of course language is the key to communication but we don’t express everything we want to say with just words.
It is said that 90% of communication is nonverbal.
That means everything doesn’t have to be said with words.
This is transferable with other languages and cultures as well.
Therefore learning a language means learning about that culture’s expressions and gestures.
Understanding how people communicate helps to develop social skills in order to interact with others effectively.
Not only will you learn how to communicate with them but you will actually grow new perspectives, or rather worldwide perspectives and viewpoints.
This enables you to develop empathy and deeper connections with the world around you.
Discovering this I believe you will begin to see how small the world really is.
9. Makes life more interesting
Did you know that approximately 43% of the world’s population are bilingual.
That is almost half the world.
Which means there are about 3.9 billion people who are bilingual.
Wouldn’t you love to be apart of those statistics?
Not only will you be able to say you make up half of the worlds population who are bilingual lol but traveling can now become more fun.
For example, if you are learning Spanish like I am, imagine how much easier it will be getting around the city knowing how to ask the right questions and reading the street signs.
You won’t feel disabled trying to navigate around the city and it will be much easier to make new friends.
Then making these new connections they may share with you places that are not normally shared with tourists and you get a more in depth tour of the country.
Not only that but knowing another language helps to connect with other people you may have never thought you would connect with.
You never know how your life may turn out to be or who you meet because you decided to learn another language.
10. Stimulates creativity
Ok so we might have touched on this before with how learning a language can improve your memory and the process is like a gym for the brain…
But did you know creativity can be stimulated as well.
I know from personal experience while learning spanish I was coming up with so many methods to learn the language.
I had to think outside the box for learning and even how to create relationships with words and images to remember what I was learning.
However, research has said that language learning is known to help people in unfamiliar situations.
What this basically means is instead of the fear of doing something you look forward to new and exciting adventures.
I think this is a form of creativity as well because you are creating a new perspective of the world around you.
Ultimately I think this is one of the best benefits anyone can gain from learning a language.
You now have a worldwide perspective rather than a singular focus and can understand and empathize with others more.
11. Makes learning easier
So I myself have not tested this theory personally but have heard many polyglots before say the same thing.
“When you learn one language it becomes easier to learn other languages.”
However from my mistake in the past years of trying to learn a language I do feel like I learned a better method to learn a language and what is important when learning.
So if the idea is the same then learning a third or fourth should relatively be easier.
Due to the fact that your brain has now created a system to processing another language apart from your mother tongue.
Studies also show how bilingualism claims it is easier to acquire other languages.
I don’t know about you but if learning more than two languages gets easier why not do it.
One of my personal goals is to learn japanese so I can watch my favorite anime shows without subtitles.
That’s just a fun goal of mine.
12. Develop problem solving skills
Last but not least we become a problem solvers.
If you haven’t noticed most of the benefits involve your brain and the mind.
I like to think of this benefit as the limitless pill.
If you haven’t seen the movie “Limitless” watch it : ).
It is about a guy who takes this pill and what this pill does is open his mind to access more of his brain than just the 5% we use.
There is even a part in the movie where he learns how to speak another language and it helped him to meet new people and take him to new places.
A great example of the possibilities of what another language can do.
But the benefit is about problem solving…
One argument is said that because your brain learns how to switch between languages when needed it processes a plethora of words to help express your ideas…
A perfect example of problem solving skills.
Whatever the problem may be your brain has now developed a new ability to find alternative solutions for the problem at hand.
It filters through logical reasoning as opposed to emotional to help reach a proper conclusion.
If you want to learn a little more on how the brain contributes to new perspectives check out this article here
Learning a language seems to really be like gaining a super power.
Are there health benefits to learning a second language?
So one more question before we wrap this whole article up.
Are there any health benefits to learning a second language?
Well let’s break down some ideas of what the brain is and how there can be health benefits to this process.
As stated many times the brain is like a muscle.
And as any muscle of the body, in order to develop it and keep it in good health that requires some form of exercise.
And probably the best form of exercise for the brain is constantly feeding it and learning new concepts and ideas…
Especially learning a language.
Because learning a language requires both parts of the brain this helps to develop what is known as grey matter.
Which you can read more about here.
In short, developing your brain can have an affect on a person if they may be prone to dementia later in their years.
Meaning it can slow down the time to when you might develop dementia up to 5 years later.
Imagine being able to enjoy your life for 5 more years all because you studied a language.
Even if it took you 1 year to learn a language that would mean you have 4 more years left to enjoy what you have.
So how is that for a benefit of learning a language.
Conclusion
So in conclusion is it worth learning a language solely for the benefits?
My answer would be yes.
If not, I would not be writing this article.
But who wouldn’t want the benefits of…
- Improving your mind
- Expanding your native language
- Connecting with other cultures
- Advancing your career
- Strengthen your decision making
- Boost your confidence and so much more
If you have been on the fence of learning another language my question to you is what’s stopping you?
The only thing that it takes to be successful in learning a language of your choice is this one word called consistency.
If you can do that, even for 30min to an hour a day I guarantee you will be surprised to how much you will know a year from now.
So if this sounds interesting to you then I suggest reading this article on how you can get started today in learning a new language.
It’s 6 simple steps anyone can do to get started.
But I think that its for now.
These were the 12 benefits of learning a language and I hope they were insightful and most importantly beneficial for you.
So have fun and go learn a language today and let’s connect together.