Literacy News

Fewer and fewer people in the English speaking world are currently looking at second language benefits as they have somehow become convinced that English alone will always be sufficient for their communication needs. This is obviously quite a sad state of affairs because the importance of learning a second language is just as high as it ever was. This article will briefly focus on the reasons for the importance of second language study.

* Communicate with a wider range of people: Some English speakers may indeed be convinced of the fact that you only need English to get around in this world. However, a few foreign trips will quickly bring them back to earth as far as this belief is concerned. Most of the people of the world do not speak English and it not even nearly the largest first language in the world (that honour goes to Mandarin Chinese). While it is true that English is by far that fastest growing second language in the world this does not mean that everybody is currently learning English, or that they even want to do so! Communication between people from different part of the world will therefore be well served by some ‘reciprocal language learning’!

* Get ahead in the workplace: We often hear about the reality of globalisation. One of the implications of this trend is that more companies are doing business in more countries from more diverse linguistic background. This means that some companies are almost desperate for bilingual staff members. Knowing a second language can therefore drastically improve your employment prospects.

* Cultivate an appreciation for the cultures of the world. Language is an integral part of a person’s identity. If you therefore make an effort to understand somebody’s language you are making almost automatic progress in understanding that person (or country) better. This is of course to be welcomed in our world with its many divisions.

* Cultiavte sharper thinking and language skills. Study after study have shown that being bilingual has intellectual benefits that goes far beyond the simple satisfaction of being able to communicate with people from other cultures. Studying a second language will give you insights into the nature and structure of language that would have been very difficult to achieve in a monolingual environment. It also turns you into a more rounded thinker as it bring you new insights into the many ways in which problems can be solved.

In short, learning a second language will make you a better thinker. It will even improve your English, it has been proven that first year English students who took a second language at school consistently outperforms those who did not!