As students at Purdue University, we are apart of a campus of students from over 130 countries. Just this year, Purdue placed second in highest enrollment of international students for public colleges and universities, with approximately 5,000 international students.

Through our Greek community, the more we study a language while we’re here, the more opportunity we have to expand our community to students beyond the Greek system. We all recognize the fact that our country consists of many different races, ethnicities and languages, but I don’t think we realize the importance of learning and accepting those differences. 

It’s important to be open to learning the language and culture of others, the same way others strive to learn ours. I’ll be taking SPAN302 this semester in hopes of a Spanish minor when I graduate. My opinion on the importance of learning a language comes from my own studies, so I did some research and found what the experts have to say, and examined the thoughts of the foreign language learners we have on our campus.

According to a study by Carmen Muñoz in the Journal of Language Awareness, foreign language learning for children in all parts of the world has become an unavoidable part for their education. Yet, as these students get farther into their education, language requirements become less and less.

Anges C. Stillmen, the author of an article explaining the importance of learning another language, explains that given the international stature of American colleges and universities, there’s no reason for us not to be learning another language. Cooperation, friendship and communication are important aspects of success in a university, as well as the professional setting, and that’s not possible if we’re surrounded with people who don’t have these skills.

After talking to some students from our campus, their opinions seem to be the same. Learning a language is no longer an interest, but is now something that is beneficial to everyone, no matter where you’re from.

“It’s important to study a language in college because it really opens student’s eyes to other cultures,” says Lauren Morton, a Phi Mu taking SPAN241 with the goal of a minoring in Spanish. She believes that learning a language is one of the main ways to achieve a glimpse at another culture’s literature, art and tradition. Also taking SPAN241 next semester, Pi Phi Shannon Castek thinks that it’s important to be able to recognize that in every country across the planet there are different languages being spoken and language barriers to overcome. For working in healthcare, “I’ll be able to avoid those barriers. I’ll be able to empathize and better help any people I come in contact with. We need to put forth the effort to learn other languages and not just expect the rest of the world to make our lives easier and learn English.”

Coming from another angle, Fiji Sho Enokido, taking JAP402, wants to minor in Japanese because all of his family members live in Japan. “It’s important for me to maintain my native language.”

Alpha Phi Emily Castañares, who will be minoring in Portuguese for her third language, says that “it’s super important to speak more than one language because the world today is so connected and in order to broaden your spectrum of the world and it’s people, you should know another language.”

Taking CHNS202 this semester, in hopes of a Chinese minor, SAE Rehan Siddique explains how learning another language expands the mind a different way. “It’s similar to how math is comprehended completely differently than reading. Everyone should try to learn another language for this reason.” He also believes that this teaches you better study habits. Because of his studies in another language, he says, “my memorization and analytical skills have drastically increased since college began.”

In conclusion, consider learning a language. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but can definitely qualify as a beneficial skill for life now and in the future. Let’s broaden our connections as a Greek community and have these connections continue into the real world as we graduate. Let’s recognize the differences and use the opportunity Purdue gives us to bring our campus together.