5 Reasons Why You Should Learn a New Language

I'm sure you may have been considering whether to learn a new language or not. It could be Korean because of your love for Korean dramas and Korean pop, Japanese because of your love for mangas and animes, or French because of your love for the French culture and cuisine! The list goes on. Well well, let's take a look at 5 reasons why you should stop hesitating and start learning a new language!

1. Activates your brain

Did you know that learning a new language activates the same part of your brain as eating chocolate and gambling? Wow! Mind-blown! According to a study conducted in Spain and Germany in 2014, when participants learnt new words in a new language, this stimulated the same pleasure centre in the brain as eating sugary foods, drugs and gambling. 

Additionally, learning foreign languages can prevent dementia. In another study conducted by the University of Edinburgh, participants who spoke two or more languages had slower mental decline than others who only spoke one. During the span of the study. they performed significantly better cognitively than the others when they were in their 70s. This was regardless of what age they started learning a new language. Hence, you may be 15, 30 or 50 years old, but it doesn't matter what age you start learning a new language because your brain stands to benefit!  

2. Expands your horizons

You may already know that learning a foreign language also includes learning about the different aspects of a country. Learning a new language is like opening the door to a WHOLE NEW WORLD! It exposes us to a different country's culture, cuisine, history, people, ways of life and many more.

For example, if you learn Korean, you learn about how the Hangeul system of alphabets was found by King Sejong, and that it was based on the shape of the mouth when pronouncing the alphabets.  Korea also celebrates Hangeul day every year! This is a part of the Korean history. You'll also learn about the fast pace of life in Korea, the local slangs they use etc.

During the process of learning languages, friendships are also really valuable. You may make some native friends who speak the language online or face-to-face and help each other in the language-learning. You can help them with their English, they can help you with the new language you're learning. Isn't that a win-win situation? What's more is that you can exchange ideas and information about life in different countries and different practices. With this, you become more open-minded and more receptive to various points of views and understand different people's thinking.

3. Brushes up your portfolio/resume

Hmm... For students, are you thinking about how to polish your portfolio to make it more outstanding? As for job seekers, are you thinking how your resume can stand out among the thousands of resumes?

Learning a new language gives you that edge over others. For students, perhaps you are interested in school study trips overseas, to countries that don't use English or other languages that most of us already know. Or perhaps you want to apply for an internship overseas. The teachers-in-charge may ask, "Why should I choose you? "

Because you know this language! This gives them an additional solid reason for you to clinch that internship or study trip you've been yearning for so badly. Some teachers may not even know how to converse in another language, so you'll be a valuable asset to them if you attend the study trip as you'll act as the bridge of communication between the locals and the study trip group members.

For job seekers, having another language skill shows that you are flexible, culturally aware and have problem-solving skills. You are also more likely to be hired, especially in global multi-national corporations. They are looking for global smart professionals who are adaptable and can communicate in various languages, as they have business associates from all over the world.  

Thus, learning a new language enables you to obtain a new skill and aids your portfolio or resume.

4. Can enjoy content without subtitles and little language barrier while travelling

Off to the more tangible benefits of learning a new language. Have you ever dreamt of watching Korean dramas, watching Animes, or reading Mangas without the subtitles? I know right, sometimes the dramas, animes or Mangas take a long time to sub when I'm so anxious to watch the next episode when the previous episode ended on a cliffhanger!!

Learning a new language can allow you to understand the basics of a language first. Of course, you'll progress from there, to the intermediate stage and to even more advanced levels. Thus, you can understand some words here and there and roughly gauge what's happening in the show you're watching or the manga you're reading.

Additionally, these benefits are amplified when you're travelling in a foreign country and you're the only one who understands the language amongst the travelling group. This is especially useful if you're travelling free-and-easy. You won't have a tour guide to translate the banners or menu for you. You'll have to rely on yourself to order the food on the menu (especially when there are no pictures!!), to find out where's the exit in the subway station, to find out the directions to go to your destination etc.  You'll need to ask the locals and chances are most of them don't understand English, especially in East Asian countries. These are situations where your language skills can come in handy.

5. Sense of accomplishment

With personal experience of learning a new language, it is definitely not an easy task! Starting off with the alphabets and constructing basic sentences, to expanding vocabulary and memorising the new words. As many say, words are the building blocks of a language. According to an article on FluentU, to be conversational in a language, one must learn at least 1000 to 3000 words. If you try to learn 1000 words amidst your busy schedule and juggling school or work and memorise 3 words each day, you'll take about 1 year to memorise the basic vocabulary. That does not include learning the grammatical structures, understanding and applying them.

Of course, when you master at least the basics of a new language, imagine the joy and sense of accomplishment you'll get! The moment that you realise you can understand a bit of the drama or variety show or can hold a 2 minutes conversation with a local, that's when the sense of accomplishment strikes you hard. The feeling when you realise your hard work and effort has paid off is unbeatable.

Not to forget, during gatherings during the festive season, you can also show off your skills to relatives and friends and perhaps teach them a word or two in French. Bonjour!(Good day!)  Merci beaucoup!(Thank you very much!) You can even take this opportunity to kick-start an interesting conversation with them about your passion and love for languages!

So, isn't it time you start learning a new language? It can be difficult, but it is a meaningful journey to embark on. Good luck on your language-learning endeavours!