"That'll help you get a job, for sure."

"A lot of employers are looking for that, you know."

"That'll look great on a resume."

Anyone studying a foreign language has probably gotten answers like this almost every time they tell someone that is what they are studying. I can sure tell you that I have. In fact, it's right up there next to "Are you looking to go into teaching?" Yes, employability and increased job opportunities are two very big benefits of studying a foreign language, but they are not the only ones...at least not for everyone.

I, for one, am not as concerned with my Spanish degree helping me find a job. I do understand that it should help whatever type of writing career I do eventually go into, but it's not why I chose a major in Spanish. No, I chose a Spanish major for much more personal reasons. The truth is, I decided on my Spanish (and English) double major because of my deep love of language(s) and being able to communicate with more people in a different language. Crazy as it may seem to some people, I wish I knew more languages than just English and Spanish. It certainly would've come in handy when I visited Portugal, Italy and France when I was studying abroad, that's for sure. But until I feel like I have a better grasp on my Spanish--one that is up to my perfectionist standards-- I think I'm going to just stick to the one foreign language...no matter how badly I want to learn more.

My love of language(s) has been around since I was a kid. Even when the other language was just being used for fun, like when my cousins and I used my mom's English-Spanish dictionary to make a list of bad words and insults, the love was still there. Of course, almost none of what we were saying back then was grammatically or phonetically correct, but we didn't know any better. Had we known, I'm sure "Tu mamar mono pelotas" would've been much more effective.

Fast forward a few more years to high school and my interest in languages had only grown. I still may have been using some of those same curse words, but at least now I could say them correctly and even throw in some everyday, conversational Spanish while I was at it. Beyond those more juvenile purposes, though, I just really loved the idea of being able to communicate in another language. Not only would it allow me to talk to more/a greater variety of people, it would also allow me to travel to new and exciting places and actually be able to understand the natives.

And the more Spanish I learned, the more fascinated I became with other languages. I wanted to learn how they worked and just where exactly they came from--you know, all that good stuff. This held true for my native English too, as evidenced by my other major in English Rhetoric and Writing. It suddenly became about more than just learning the vocab, the pronunciation and the grammar...I wanted to learn more about the why's of the language. Why do those words mean what they do? Why are they pronounced the way they are? And why are those grammar rules the way they are? There was just so much there to explore beyond the basics, and I wanted to learn it all.

That is why when it came time to choose a major in college, I knew that no matter what other major I decided to pair it with, I wanted to continue studying Spanish. And I have never regretted that decision for a second because I have learned so much more about the Spanish language and culture and gained a greater appreciation for other languages and cultures in the process. There's also the small added bonus that it allowed me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study abroad in Spain this last spring. Beyond improving my Spanish skills, that experience also deepened my love of and appreciation for all languages.

I could go on all day and night about how much I love language(s) and why there are so many reasons to learn a new one outside of improving your career prospects. That is definitely a big one, yes, but there is a whole world of other benefits out there just waiting to be discovered. I urge you all to dig down deep and see for yourselves if there's more to your decision to study another language than just increasing your employment appeal. Don't just do it for your resume.