While Americans are expected to take a couple of language classes throughout school, there isn’t a whole lot of emphasis on foreign-language learning in this country. Other countries put a larger emphasis on learning English and/or other languages, while Anglophones, native English speakers, often don’t have that same pressure on them. However, that doesn’t mean we should be happy just speaking English. There are a lot of benefits to learning a new language and these are just a few of them:
1. Becoming bilingual makes you smarter.
According to this article from the New York Times, learning a new language can improve your problem-solving skills. One example given is a study that was done in which students were given some mental puzzles to solve and the bilingual students finished these puzzles faster than the students that could only speak one language. This BBC News article states that another study found that learning a new language can build gray matter in the brain, “in the same way exercise builds muscles.” Gray matter is what helps us process information, which would explain why the students that were bilingual could solve the puzzles faster than monolingual students.
2. It decreases the possibility of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
In the above-mentioned New York Times article, the writer mentions a study done by a neuropsychologist named Tamar Gollan. Gollan studied 44 elders that could speak both English and Spanish. The elders were given a test to see how proficient they were in their second language. Gollan found that those that were better at speaking another language displayed symptoms of Alzheimer’s and dementia at a later age than those with less proficiency. This means that if you have a history of Alzheimer’s or dementia in your family, then learning a language could help your mind stay the best version of itself for a while longer.
3. You can connect with a lot more people.
I know that this point seems obvious, but if you’ve never studied any languages then you might be surprised how much this opens up your world. In my experience, people are pretty happy when you can say the slightest of things in their language. I once attended a Korean wedding and the bride’s parents immediately smiled when I said “congratulations” in Korean. Later on, I got to speak to the bride's mother some more using my limited Korean and it warmed my heart how happy she seemed that I had an interest in her language. That same bride had a baby and being able to speak to that adorable bilingual toddler was pretty great. I felt really happy when I said the Korean word for "kiss" and she leaned one of her chubby cheeks towards me so I could kiss it. It’s a really good feeling to be able to connect with someone by speaking to them in their own language, even if it’s just a couple of words. Even if you feel stupid for knowing so little, many people are just glad that you’ve tried.
4. It boosts your resume.
I personally feel like this is the least important benefit, but it is still definitely a benefit of knowing more than one language. The fact that you can connect with more people means being able to connect with more clients. Depending on where you get a job and what languages you learn, this might even lead to going abroad for business trips. My dad interviewed with a software company, not realizing that he was actually interviewing for a receptionist position; however, when the interviewer saw on his resume that he could communicate in five languages, the company immediately wanted to find a place for him. Sure, his technical background helped, but it was his language abilities that really got him the job. As a kid I loved getting souvenirs from other countries due to his company often sending him to Latin America and Europe to meet with international clients.
If you’d like some tips for how to learn a language, check out this previous article of mine, 7 Tips for Learning a New Language.