Studying a foreign language can improve your cognitive and critical thinking abilities. And three years of language study on your record will catch the eye of anyone reading your college application. No matter what your career choice, knowledge of a foreign language gives you an advantage. Learning about other cultures will help you expand your personal horizons. Studying a new language, communicating with people in their own language, and learning about their culture can be a source of both pleasure and personal enrichment.
Learning a language is not just learning about its pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, it is learning to see the world as the other culture sees it. It is also learning to see your own culture from a new perspective. Knowledge of a foreign language will enable you to compare and contrast cultural concepts.
Knowledge of foreign languages is necessary for the Federal Government to effectively meet 21st century security challenges by better understanding the languages and cultures of our allies and enemies. Recent surveys indicate that more than 80 agencies of the federal government rely on professionals with intermediate to high-level competence in foreign languages.
When you visit a different country or region, knowing the local language will help you to communicate and bond with the local community. Even if many of the locals speak your language, it’s still worth your while learning the local language. Doing so will demonstrate your interest in and commitment to the new country. Many English speakers seem to believe that wherever you go on vacation you can get by with speaking English, so there’s no point in learning any other languages, and if people don’t understand them all they have to do is speak slowly and talk louder. You can more or less get away with this, as long as you stick to popular tourist resorts and hotels where you can usually find someone who speaks English. However, if you want to journey beyond tourist areas, to get to know the locals, to read signs, menus, etc, knowing the local language is necessary.
A basic ability in a foreign language will help you to ‘get by’ to order food and drink, find your way around, buy tickets, etc. If you have a more advanced knowledge of the language, you can have real conversations with the people you meet, which can be very interesting and will add a new dimension to your vacation.
If your partner, in-laws, relatives or friends speak a different language, learning that language will help you to communicate with them. It will also give you a better understanding of their culture and way of thinking.
If your work involves regular contact with speakers of foreign languages, being able to talk to them in their own languages will help you to communicate with them. It may also help you to make sales and to negotiate and secure contracts. Knowledge of foreign languages may also increase your chances of finding a new job, getting a promotion or a transfer overseas, or going on foreign business trips.
Kolik jazyků znáš, tolikrát jsi člověkem.
You live a new life for every new language you speak.
If you know only one language, you live only once.
(Czech proverb)
As a person who speaks only one language you would have no basis for comparison, because all you know is just English. In different languages the same idea is often expressed in different ways. Knowing another language gives you a great measuring stick. It will help you better understand tenses, prepositions, and all the other parts of speech we normally take for granted. You will find yourself speaking and writing more precise creative sentences. There is a reason most great writers and poets are students of many languages.
Language is what makes us human. It is the medium we use to share our thoughts with the world. I couldn’t imagine thought without language? Great language also has a wonderful musical quality (like in Farsi also known as Pesian). Learning a new language is like learning a new way to think and a new way to sing.
I couldn’t believe that the majority of the world does not speak English. New thoughts and ideas are happening everywhere and they are not translated immediately. We live in a much smaller world now and we are coming into contact with more non-English speakers all the time. I’ve improved both my business and personal relationships by being able to communicate with people in their language, which has gained me respect and credibility.
I learned a few French pickup lines and started to show them off to everyone I met. But in all seriousness, knowing a foreign tongue implies education, good taste, and refinement. I wished I could speak Italian, Farsi/Persian, Japanese, and of course Canadian