In this blog post I am going to give you five reasons why you should take the leap and study a foreign language!
It boosts the development of the brain
It has been proven by Swedish Scientists, who studied the effects of language learning on the brain, that people’s brains increase in size when they learn a new language. This then results in you being able to improve thinking skills and memory abilities. This boost in brain power could help learning and performance in other tasks that you carry out during the day.
It improves your native language
Many studies have shown that learning a second language can really help enhance your native language skills. Learning another language helps you learn about how language works and be aware of grammar and sentence structures in your own language. For example, I remember when I was back in school, I did more work on adjectives and nouns in my Spanish lessons than I did in my English lessons! I definitely believe that with thanks to learning foreign languages, this helped me see my own native English language in a different light and has helped me to teach English as a foreign language in different countries.
A confidence boost
Learning a language is a great way to increase confidence. When learning a language you have to put yourself out there and speak the language – It is all part of the learning process. At first it may seem a bit daunting and many students worry about making a mistake and looking silly. However, once you have got over that initial stage, you will feel a massive sense of accomplishment knowing that you have just conversed in a completely different language. I used to be a very shy girl when I was at school, but now I am the complete opposite! I would definitely put this down to the fact that I have put myself out there speaking other languages.
Other cultures
I remember when I was learning Spanish back at school, I was always mesmerised when the teacher gave us snippets of the Spanish culture and always left me wanting to know more! When learning a new language you always have lots of opportunities to discover the culture of the country of the language that you are learning (or other countries where they speak that language). For example, in language lessons you will learn about different foods, festivals and traditions. This makes you more culturally aware and appreciate cultural differences amongst us. Being exposed to different cultures helps you to see and experience the world with ‘new eyes’.
Career opportunities
In today’s working world, employers are always on the hunt for candidates that have something that makes them stand out. Knowing a foreign language will definitely make you stand out for future employers, as it shows them that you have invaluable communication and multitasking skills.