The Perks of Being Bilingual

My teachers and parents always told me the same things about being bilingual. “Build up your language skills! Being bilingual will open up a lot of career opportunities for you in the future!” This is very true; being bilingual is very helpful when it comes to networking and building successful customer relations. However, they surely left out a lot of other benefits that I’ve discovered over the years.

• There is tons of great music for you to discover.

As an English and Spanish speaker, one of the best parts of being bilingual, for me, is definitely discovering new Spanish music. There are so many bands, artists, and even genres that I never would have gotten into if I hadn’t understood their lyrics or themes. Of course, music has no language, but it’s always more fun when you’re able to sing along to your favorite songs.

•  You can watch movies without the annoying subtitles.

I love movies, so nothing bugs me more than having to read the annoying text at the bottom of the screen when I’m trying to enjoy the movies themselves. I usually try to avoid being in that situation, but I’m thankful I don’t have to do that when I watch movies that are originally in Spanish. It makes me feel like I’m not missing out on too many things.

• Your library can double in size.

The only things that are better than movies are books, so having access to more literature is a pretty giant perk of being bilingual, if you ask me. Plus, words just sound so much nicer when their read in their original language.

•  Avoid the traps of translation!

After comparing English translations to originally Spanish works, I’ve noticed that more often than not, the meanings of things get distorted. This is, perhaps, what I am most grateful I don’t have to deal with as an English and Spanish speaker. A lot of times, the emotional impact of some works just doesn’t carry through. Jokes, for example, always lose some of their punch after their translated. Save yourself from becoming another victim of translation!

A lot of us still have about a month left of summer vacation, so if you’ve run out of things to do or feel like being somewhat productive, teaching yourself a new language would not be a bad idea. You have access to all of the resources; all you need is to get started!