Benefits of Speaking a Foreign Language

by Monica Haydee Di Santi
Spanish version

Globalization has put an urge on the learning of English at every level of society. In the past only the elite, CEOs and rich people had access to foreign languages because travel and communication were not widely spread.

Our society has changed. Today, you can easily be in contact with somebody who lives on the other side of the world and who speaks a different language but, if both of you speak English, communication is successful and so is your business.

According to Newsweek, in 2007, non-native English-speakers outnumbered native ones 3 to 1. This has been changing the way we communicate. This new social trend reflects that English is a necessary tool for you, no matter what you do.

If you still don't speak English, your education is not complete, your job opportunities are limited and your salary will be lower. Hurry up and change this situation!

Surprising Benefits

• “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Ludwig Witgensttein. When you are monolingual you live in a castle surrounded by tall walls and can't see anything beyond. Your world is limited to a single and narrow view.
• A foreign language helps you reshape the knowledge you have acquired in your culture, creates new awareness, transfer your training and deepens your literacy.
• "We have strong evidence today that studying a foreign language has a ripple effect, helping to improve student performance in other subjects." - Richard Riley, U.S. Secretary of Education under Bill Clinton. This shows that learning a foreign language helps you develop analytical capacities, reaching higher levels of performance in Math and programming languages for computers.
• Krashen and Mc Field, 2005 in "Language Learners" explains that scientific studies show bilingual people do better in reading comprehension in English than monolingual native speakers of English.
• The foreign language will give you access to foreign original texts and movie sounds, without having to depend on translations .
• You turn into a more polished person, and your understanding of human nature will grow. You'll discover that people, who are apparently quite different from you, suffer and enjoy the same basic human feelings and experiences.
• You acquire a different vision of your own culture as you become aware of cultural differences and learnt to see your own culture through the eyes of the foreign language.
• You can also represent your country abroad or be an excellent host at home, developing friendly international relations and fostering business.
• You’ll enjoy visiting distant countries, meeting their people, enjoying their food and making new friends.

After all these considerations, there’s no doubt that learning a foreign language will help you grow as a person, and increase your opportunities in many areas of your life.