Top 10 Reasons to Learn a Language. There are many reasons to learn a new language, from cultural understanding to travel to career opportunities. So whether you want to learn Spanish ,French, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese or another language, here are our top 10 reasons for learning another language.
1
Expand your horizons. Traveling abroad without learning the native language means your experience won’t be as rich. Instead of going off the beaten path and discovering the authentic reality of the country, you’re trapped with the other tourists. Knowing the language will help you comfortably navigate all sorts of situations, from asking for directions to ordering food at restaurants to making meaningful connections with the locals.
2
Open doors professionally. As the world grows more connected, professionals with language skills will have a distinct competitive edge. You’ll be able to show respect to business associates while you make the entire world a potential place to work. Language can be the key to making your profession a global adventure. Whether you’re in the non-profit, business, education or government sectors, your language skills can be the difference between seizing an opportunity and yielding it to someone else.
3
Sharpen your mind. When you learn a new language, you exercise the language centers of your brain, boosting your understanding of languages in general. In a way, language learning is a “two-for-one” deal: You’ll find a new way to express yourself in another tongue, while enhancing your abilities in your native language at the same time!
4
Make the grade. Learning a language requires discipline and diligence, which can be applied to other subjects, from mathematics to history. Studies have shown that with each additional year of foreign language instruction, scores on college and graduate school exams improve incrementally.
5
Immerse yourself in arts and culture. Many of the world’s cultural treasures were written or conceived in another language. Translations miss the nuance, the metaphors and the cultural references in any given work. (For example, imagine trying to explain the English phrase “That’s cool” abroad.) Learning the language of origin opens up the full, rich and intimately detailed experiences of these masterpieces, from the writings of Sartre to the opera of Mozart.
6
Grab the global market. Once you’ve learned a new language, you can take your business to countries in Asia, Europe and beyond. The world is expanding the marketplace exponentially, and savvy businesspeople will want to take advantage of that, communicating with suppliers, advertising professionals and consumers. Sell your product, your service, even yourself, globally.
7
Explore at home. American cities feature a wealth of cultural diversity and discovery, from vibrant Chinatowns in New York and San Francisco to Calle Ocho in Miami where Latin culture thrives. Armed with the ability to speak Mandarin Chinese or Spanish, you can truly taste the flavors in our great “melting pot.” You’ll become an insider rather than a tourist. In addition, many of your neighbors are pursuing the American Dream all over the United States, bringing their native tongue along with their entrepreneurial spirit.
8
Gain more perspective. You go to more than one media source for the news, so why not use language to see the world from another point of view? Learning Spanish may help you see how the citizens of Spain and Latin American countries perceive world events. Not only will this make you more global and connected, you’ll find that by reading a foreign-language newspaper, or by watching a foreign-language television broadcast, you’re actively reinforcing your language skills.
9
Lend a helping hand. What are you passionate about? Ending global hunger? Empowering people in developing countries? Educating the world about the dangers of climate change? Follow your passion. Join the Peace Corps, volunteer abroad or go on a mission. With a new language, you’ll discover that your goodwill goes much further with the ability to communicate.
10
Improve yourself for a lifetime. Many of the ways we improve ourselves are temporary but an investment in language learning lasts forever. From new employment opportunities to immersive, enriching vacations abroad, language-learning opens up new avenues of possibility with each and every skill you master.
This article is brought to you by Rosetta Stone, the world's leading language learning software company.
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