Sure, we’ve all had to take a few foreign language core classes, but not many people end up pursuing the language any further than that, let alone having the ability to actually speak it. A lot of students don’t keep up the language because they think it’s too hard, it’s a waste of time, or they won’t actually use it later on. Other students simply say, “I’m just not a language person.”
Anyone can be a language person: it’s just a matter of commitment and practice. And once you do commit to it, there might be more benefits than you expected.
1. New friends
Whether you’re studying abroad, just traveling for a few weeks, or there’s a super cute foreign exchange student you’re dying to get to know better, knowing a language other than your own will allow you to make connections with people you never would have otherwise.
2. Brain function
Lots of studies have shown that learning a second language helps improve brain function, especially in areas of the brain that have to do with memory. That means it could even help you on your calculus homework or your philosophy final!
3. Like to travel? People will like you more if you know at least a few words.
Even if you just learn how to order a glass of water in the language of the country you’re visiting, the people there will appreciate that you took the effort to learn it, and they might even treat you a bit nicer.
4. After you learn the first, the next three come much easier.
Many times, when people can fluently speak a second language, they are learning a few other languages too. Once you go through the learning process the first time, a lot of the same rules apply to other languages you might want to learn.
5. There’s a whole new side to Netflix that you can explore.
Go to Netflix. Look at the list of genres. Click on Foreign Films. You’re welcome.
6. Each new language offers a new perspective of the world.
There’s a word in Portuguese, saudade, which loosely means “nostalgia for the present.” It’s a feeling of knowing that you’re going to miss the moment you’re experiencing right now. Portuguese-speakers hold this word very dearly; some even claim it is a part of the Portuguese soul. There are words in some languages that don’t even translate into others, and they can completely change the way you see other people and the world.
7. It might not be as hard as you think.
Download the Duolingo app. Watch a new TV show in a new language. Read your favorite book from when you were twelve in a different language. Here at John Carroll, there’s Café des Amis (for French) and La Hora del Café (for Spanish) where you can get together with other students and faculty to talk in a different language and have some cookies and coffee. There are so many ways to do it; it’s all about finding out what works for you.