It is common knowledge that college is a time to expand one's horizons. This is partially because classes outside the basics are offered to students. This is often the first time one is able to stretch intellectually and learn things never encountered before.
Language classes can offer intellectual rigor and a trade-like practicality, making them appealing options. Second language education has many benefits, academic and cognitive, including better reading comprehension and a decreased risk of dementia. Choosing which language to learn can be difficult though, considering many larger universities have entire departments offering a multitude of options. Here are five languages that every student should at least consider learning.
1. Go by proximity and learn Spanish
Spanish is the most common language, besides english, spoken in the united states. The US shares a border with Mexico, a president with Puerto Rico, and is closer to central and south america then generally acknowledged. If any language is the common sense choice, Spanish is it. It is useful for travel, as outside very urbanized area of Latin America english is not very prevalent. Spanish is good for those wanting to go into healthcare, sales, or the service industry.
2. Take care of business and learn German
Germany is a European Union (EU) powerhouse. Their GDP stands at 3.7 trillion dollars and an immense amount of business is conducted in German. Though many Germans speak excellent English, knowledge of the language both cultivates respect and gives advantage. There is also the fact that college in Germany is free for anyone, provided one can prove German fluency.
3. Go old school and learn Latin
Latin forms the basis of the romance languages. Learning the language lays the groundwork for picking up Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French, Romanian, and more. The study can also improve English grammar competency. Knowing Latin allows for better appreciation for works of great art and literature, as well as helping law and medical students learn vocabulary the has Latin roots. The majority of western foundational academics were shaped by people who used Latin as a linguistic tool and knowing the language can help on tap into that well.
4. Follow peer pressure and learn Mandarin
The dialect of Chinese known as Mandarin is the most commonly spoken language in the world. While it is a challenging language to learn, Mandarin comes with wonderful benefits. Besides the most obvious, China’s bustling economy, the state of our debt, their rising status as a great power, there is thousands of years of rich poetry, art, literature, and culture that one can start to access by learning a dialect of Chinese.
5. Grow and learn Hindi
India is growing at an exponential pace. Their population has a birth rate higher than china’s and India has an active economy, with growing industry. Hindi very well may be the next hot language to secure education in. The Indian subcontinent is rich with language diversity and dialects, but textbook Hindi still serves as a lingua franca in many place. Hindi can be useful to the traveler, as one visits the sites built up by wealth Indian nobility, or the film nerd, who would like to cast subtitles to the wind. The language can also be a jumping off point to learn Urdu, which is a desirable skill for those who wish to work on the international plane.
