Why You Should Learn a Foreign Language

A lot of people like to ask, “why should you learn a foreign language?” They often find that the classes can be boring and English is so widely used that learning another language would be a waste of time.

I can tell you right now, it’s definitely worth the time.

After two and a half years in the French program at MSU, I’ve seen benefits both expected and surprising. While I’m nowhere near fluent, I have a decent grasp on an entirely different way of communicating and access to millions of people that I would have otherwise never been able to comprehend if I hadn’t stuck with it.

Sure, you may find Spanish or Mandarin or other languages, a pain to get through, but it’s no doubt that employers seek out those who can interact with international clientele. And, yes, English is the official language of the United States, but it’s also the new homeland of tons of immigrants from all over the world, who speak multiple languages—just look at all the international students MSU hosts.

Here are just a few reasons why you should learn a foreign language and stick with it.

What Employers Look For

Having a foreign language on your resume will show employers that you’ve put valuable time into doing something that’s hard and many college students give up on. As you get older, it will be much harder to learn a foreign language and it becomes much more about motivation and interest versus plain skill. If you really take the time, it will be an impressive addition to your resume.

The government is always looking for linguists and people who know foreign languages, especially ones that are the less commonly learned. Schools need foreign language teachers and other countries need people who can teach English. Not to mention that by knowing a foreign language, traveling and communicating will bring you into contact with people all over the world.

In the long run, it’s important to get an idea of what you want to do. If your job means speaking with Latino immigrants, it would be rather ignorant to forcibly communicate in English. Also, you can’t predict the future. Even if you plan on never communicating with foreigners or foreign-language speakers, it’s always possible that you’ll need to know Spanish or Mandarin or anything else later down the line.

The Cultural In

Learning French has given me different cultural perspectives. It’s rather interesting the types of things people will say about cultures without knowing them, without visiting and especially without understanding the language. When I visited France this last summer, I actually got to sit down and talk to people. I found out quickly that stereotypes are typically untrue.

Learning a language will give you insight to how people interact with each other and it’ll be so much easier to understand why certain cultures do things the way they do. There are nearly 6,000 international students at MSU (as of 2011) who have taken the time to learn about our culture and language. Never in our life will we be surrounded by more people from around the world, so wouldn’t it be worth the time to mingle with someone who speaks a foreign language when they’re literally on our home turf?

The Long-Term Benefits

If anything, learning a foreign language will teach you about your own maternal language. You start to become more conscious of what expressions make sense to foreigners (how’s it going?) and which ones don’t (‘sup, g?). And if you get to talk to someone who’s learning English, you can express what you need to say in ways that are clearer for them to understand.

Learning a foreign language is definitely a challenge and sort of like leaving your home nest (hence why English is our maternal language). It’s adventurous. Each Spanish class you leave is one step closer to being able to hang out with people in, say, Ecuador.

If anything, it’ll keep your interest. Languages are so massive and complicated that you’ll truly never know all the ins and outs—even in your own language.

Got more reasons why? Send me a comment and let me know!