(LFA) Communication development through spoken words and written symbols is one of the best advances humanity has utilized for thousands of years. The ability to convey data, personal thoughts, and artistic expression has been of primary importance to survival from the earliest days of travelling nomadic tribes to the present day techno-information age.
Recognizing the various needs to communicate in our present day, many people have become bilingual and they can fluently speak and write in two different languages. There are individuals who are multi-lingual with working knowledge of three or even four languages, and there are also those among us who have never pursued any interest in learning another mode of communication. Some may ask, what’s the point? This article outlines benefits that learning a new language can bring to your life, and if you are already multi-lingual, the arguments here should work to reinforce your motivation, perseverance, and satisfaction of linguistic study for many years to come.
Listed below are benefits of learning multiple languages that I crudely divided into two areas; Career Advantages and Social Advantages, though inevitably they end up overlapping each other.
Professional and Academic Advantages of Languages
There are many countries in the world that are officially bilingual due to the history of the region and the people inhabiting it. In a large country such as Canada, both English and French are officially recognized languages used to conduct business transactions, issuance of government services and paperwork, bilingual product labelling, road signs, and many other instances.
Understanding multiple languages in your line of work and in your particular country, may give you a competitive edge for present and future work opportunities. This is especially true for employment based in customer service, logistics, human resources, management, teaching, and translation. It is a highly valuable asset for an employer to hire employees who can get the job done, build business relationships with customers, and provide company services in more than one language. It is almost like being two persons in one body. This may eventually lead to promotions based on your bilingual speaking and writing skills.
Multiple Languages and Working Abroad
Some employment opportunities require you to speak another language, or at least an ability to speak and write it on a basic working level. Some of these jobs may require working abroad, which may entail periodic short-term travel outside of your home city for a few days to attend industry conferences, promotional marketing, design events, and training workshops. Temporary contract-based employment could last for several weeks or months to help a company to set up operations in new cities and markets world-wide, or for implementing a new operating system, or to upgrade existing ones. Finally, there are long-term work assignments that require you to move to a new part of the world and find a permanent residence, or you perhaps want to move and start a new life elsewhere. In all of the above scenarios, having even a beginner level of language training would go a long way to make your business experience more enjoyable (and profitable) to an employer.
Often an employer may help subsidize your language training classes if you make a written request to management justifying how learning a second language will help you do your job better. Open yourself to a larger job market by learning a new language that can help you get hired in a job you want. Find a local community centre, college or university, and sign yourself up for a beginner level course to get started. Discuss with your management why they should pay for your language training upon successful class completion; this will add value to the company. In my workplace, there is an “Educational Assistance Program” to provide financial support for out-of-work training and education for employees. Inquire if your company has it’s own version of this type of program and take advantage it.
Personal and Social Advantages to Learning a New Language
Learning a new language can help people of all ages to strengthen their personal skills and increase social interaction. From children and young adults who are in grade school, secondary (high school), or post-secondary (college, university), right up to adults and seniors, learning a new language is an effective way to improve your English grammar (or if English is not your native language), the spelling and grammar of your native tongue. This is because studying the grammar and spelling of another language forces you to think about how your native language is structured as you learn and translate it.
You pay more attention to correct spelling and using correct grammatical sentence structures when learning and doing exercises, and that will habitually make you a better writer in your native language. The same goes for pronunciation, you are more aware of how you speak, the tones and accents you emphasize, again making you think about your native tongue. Remember that study is not only learning grammar and vocabulary; it’s learning to make new sounds with your mouth using the lips, teeth, and tongue in various combinations. It’s about discovering new expressions, and ways of seeing and understanding reality.
Learning new languages will also help to develop and sharpen your “soft skills”. These are your definitive characteristics, personality traits, and social qualities that you use to integrate yourself into your peer groups and use on a regular basis to complete tasks. Some of these skills include public speaking, listening, observing, note taking, teamwork, confidence, self-esteem, presentation skills, and leadership skills. Learning and practicing your new linguistic vocabulary will inevitably develop your character and personality as a social man or woman, perhaps even adding a touch of class and eloquence to the way you speak, write, and physically present yourself. In these ways you can foster great working relationships, build a natural trust in your own abilities, and find your own natural flow of graceful communication with people. This will especially get you far if your significant other and their family speak a foreign language, trust me!
Travel and Vacation Opportunities and New languages
Many people initiate language study in preparation for world travel, expeditions, and vacations. Indeed, learning the spoken and written language of your travel destination will help you attain insight into significant world cultures and traditions that can reward you with a lifetime of joy and passion. Why not open yourself to a wealth of literature, history, art, regional politics, and local work/business opportunities to round off a nice trip?
In your travels, you will be more apt to make new friends wherever you go, and it will become a pleasure to meet nice strangers, and also help you avoid any not-so-friendly locals. Maybe you will find yourself travelling more around the world as the communication barriers begin to lift. Here are some more benefits that aid in travelling abroad:
- Asking for directions to hotel room, restaurant, hospital, attractions, etc
- Ordering food and drinks
- Shopping for souvenirs and bargaining with confidence
- Requesting accommodations and specifying what you require
- Transportation: using public transit, taxis, renting vehicles, even hitchhiking
- Asking for assistance: legal, medical, personal, and in emergency situations
In this article I have tried to demonstrate the many benefits of learning a new language in our world. I have shown that these benefits can be professional, academic, social, and above all practical. To give you, the reader of this article some inspiration, I will briefly list the languages I know how to speak or have studied: English, Polish, French, Japanese, and Spanish. In future articles I will outline specific benefits to learning these languages and provide some learning tips. So what are you waiting for, what new language will you learn?