A foreign language can be defined as a language that is indigenous to another country. A foreign language is also a language not spoken in the native country of the person referred to, i.e. a person living in India and speaking Indian languages can say that Chinese is a foreign language for him. These two characterizations do not exhaust the possible definitions, however, and the label is occasionally applied in ways that are variously misleading or factually inaccurate. The definition of the foreign language is vast, and cannot be confined into one single definition.
There are also students who learn more than one language from birth or from a very young age, they are bilingual or multilingual. These children can be said to have two, three or more mother tongues and neither language is foreign to that child, even if one language is a foreign language for the vast majority of people in the child’s birth country. For example, a child learning English from her English father and Japanese at school in Japan can speak both English and Japanese, but neither is a foreign language to him. Learning a new language can be a lot of fun and rewarding experience and at the same time, it is also not a very easy job to do. There are a lot of benefits associated with learning new languages.
There is no age for learning a new language and learning a new language at any age can be an enormously rewarding experience in many ways. There are a lot of rewards associated with learning a new language. While language learning is an enriching experience for all ages, children have the most to gain from this wonderful adventure, also learning a new language at a young age is quite easy. Quite simply, starting early offers the widest possible set of benefits and opportunities. Besides having a new learning experience, we also get to know more about the culture of other people when we study their language. We also become aware of other civilizations and every culture has something or other for us to offer, which is beneficial for us.
The Benefits of Learning a Foreign Language
We all go to school with something or other in our minds. Our parents send us to school to learn new things that will help us become a learned personality which would help us in some way or the other. Education never goes wasted, and all that we learned to remain with us for our lifetime and we do use that information in some place or the other. In the same way, learning a foreign language also brings in with it a lot of advantages of its own. Learning a new language is not very easy, though learning a foreign language takes time and dedication but still learning involves a lot of fun. Different people have different reasons to learn a new language, some reasons are practical, some inspirational, some intellectual and others sentimental, but whatever your reasons, having a clear idea of why you’re learning a language can help to motivate you in your studies and makes the job a lot easy.
There are a number of reasons why you should learn a foreign language. Some may opt for a new language as a hobby class while for some people it is necessary because of job purpose or business. In our world today, only one-fifth of the population speaks English. So, learning another language is important for both works as well as if you travel to a country like Brazil etc. where about 80% of the population does not speak English. It is also important for making real connections with people, and lastly, it can give you a greater understanding of your own language.
Benefits of Foreign Language in Job
There are a lot of countries that have huge economies and are quite lucrative for seeking jobs but those nations do not speak English, in this case, a candidate with knowledge of their language can easily score a job in that particular country. China, for example, is one of the most populous countries in the world and is continuously growing in importance both economically as well as politically. Since most of the people speak Chinese there; it can be difficult for tourists as well a candidate who wants a job in that country. Learning a language like Chinese would definitely enhance your chances of getting a job, and not just in China. Chinese is a language that is spoken all over the world. Almost every country in the world has a Chinatown, from the United States, to Canada, Australia, London, and much of Europe. Throughout Asia – in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia – people speak Chinese.
Benefits of Foreign Languages in Business
If your work involves regular contact with speakers of foreign languages, being able to talk to them in their own languages will help you a lot to communicate with them. It may also help you to make sales and to negotiate and secure contracts though you may have an interpreter to translate your thoughts it gives a much better impact when you explain things yourself. Knowledge of foreign languages may also increase your chances of finding a new job, getting a promotion or a transfer overseas, or of going on foreign business trips. A lot of English-speaking business people don’t bother to learn other languages as they believe that most of the people they do business within foreign countries can speak English, and if they don’t speak English, interpreters can be used. The lack of foreign language knowledge puts the English speakers at a disadvantage. It is also a fact that during any kind of socializing after the meetings, the locals will probably feel more comfortable using their own language rather than English. Hence if you travel a lot for business or work, then learning their language is a must.
Benefits of Foreign Language during Traveling
You may think of travelling outside your country for a vacation. Many English speakers seem to believe that wherever you go on holiday you can manage by speaking English, so there’s no point in learning any other languages. Well, this is not always true; there are a lot of countries in this world where people do not speak English. If people don’t understand you all you have to do is speak slowly and turn up the volume. You can more or less get away with this, as long as you stick to popular tourist resorts and hotels where you can usually find someone who speaks English. However, if you want to venture beyond such places, to get to know the locals, to read signs, menus, etc, knowing the local language is necessary. Sometimes the situation can get really fussy when you do not know the local languages of the country you are travelling to. A lot of countries which are really famous among tourists like Brazil, China, and Spain etc. are the examples of countries where people do not speak English.
Foreign Languages Enhance Confidence
It is also believed that more you learn, more confident you tend to become of your personality. Learning one or more than one language may give you a great sense of self-confidence and you tend to become confident in your abilities. Learning a new language gives your brain a boost. Many scholars, authors, artists, poets, and other people of professions that require an excellent grasp of their own language, study another language as well. This is often because learning another language helps to improve your English as well as gives a boost to your brain which further improves your confidence.
Advantages of Learning at Early Age
It is always believed that the child is the best time to learn anything, and even in the case of learning a new language, it is the same. Starting at young has many advantages. Children understand intuitively that language is something to explore, to play around with and to enjoy. During younger times, there is a lot of enthusiasm for learning new things; their enthusiasm is both infectious and effective. Their brains are really quick and sharp; the quickness with which they pick up their first language is nearly miraculous. There are a lot of other reasons to get started at a younger age. There are a lot of benefits associated with learning another language at a young age.
Learning a foreign language at an early stage gives a great boost to confidence. Children are always discovering new things, but learning a new language can be a uniquely rewarding experience for the student of any age. For children, the feeling of accomplishment that comes with their first steps toward a second language can spur them on to a deeper and broader passion for learning in general. And because children are at a special “window of opportunity” in which language learning is intuitive and natural, the ease and pleasure of the experience may boost their confidence and their desire for new discoveries. Some other benefits of learning a foreign language at a young age are:
Gives Brains a Boost: Learning a new language opens the horizons of your brain and acts as a gateway for the healthy brain. The mind is much more like a muscle than we’ve ever realized. Our mind needs to get cognitive exercise and it is not like a piece of clay on which you put an indelible mark. Research into the effects of bilingualism on children suggests that exposure to more than one language is an excellent way of flexing those brain muscles and building them up, too. Bilingual children in one study reported in Nature showed a significantly larger density of grey matter in their brains which is a very good sign. And those who had been exposed to a second language from an early age proved to have the most grey matter of all. Grey matter is an important part of the human brain that is responsible for processing information, including memory, speech, and sensory perception. And if it can be increased by exposure to a second language, then language learning would be just like taking your brain to the gym.
Greater Opportunities at College: Competition these days is increasing day by day. Colleges now place an increasingly high value on knowledge of more than one language. As the admissions process becomes more competitive across the board, knowing a second or a third language adds a new dimension to an applicant’s resume. And as the economy becomes more and more globalized, English-only becomes less and less of an option. Knowledge of a third language can also help you get an on-campus placement and this quality will always make you shine bright always different from the rest of the crowd.
Conclusion
Learning new things has always attracted humans. Curiosity is the human’s biggest quest. While some people learn a different language because of a practical need, many others learn a language because of interest or because they want a challenge or just out of a hobby. Every language is unique in itself, some languages can be extremely hard to learn, but once they are learned they benefit you greatly. Language is what makes us human. It is how we share our thoughts with the world. It is really difficult to imagine a world without language, without it there would be no way to communicate and express ourselves. The more languages you know, the more ways you have to communicate and express yourself. This is why learning many languages should be important, and why one language simply won’t do.
