How To learn a new language (partie 1)

 The importance of learning a foreign language.

Why?

So, why is it important to learn a foreign language? Basically, the advantages of learning foreign languages have the ability to set you up for success in nearly every aspect of your life.

We live in a multilingual world, where connections are now more important than ever. The world is becoming increasingly globalized and knowing a second language can always give you an unfair advantage.

Learning a foreign language help you show and broaden literally the facets of your personality. Think about it for a second:

When you speak a foreign language your facial features,the thoughts that you think, your actions,your reactions are all slightly different than when you speak your mother tongue and we only have one life .

It's true but it's also true that the more languages you speak, the more lives we can live within one live span.

The importance of learning foreign languages are mushrooming as the world becomes increasingly globalized and bilingualism is now perhaps the most useful real world skill to ever exist, rather than just being a nifty party trick. If you’re thinking about making the effort to learn a foreign language rather than expecting the world to accommodate your monolingualism, you are a rare breed indeed.

Learning a second language opens up the opportunity for being part of a community with a different culture, and learning more about the world around us. 

The more you use your brain to learn new skills, the more your brain's functions work. Learning a new language pushes your brain to get familiar with new grammar and vocabulary rules. It allows you to train your memory to remember new words, make connections between them, and use them in contextual situations

being bilingual can bring you several advantages.

What are the benefits of learning a  second language. 

As mentioned before, learning a new language is a wonderful benefit in a globalized world. Let’s have a look at some of the benefits of learning a second language.

1.Brain benefits of learning a language:

Perhaps the most important benefit of learning a language is not the most well-known. According to studies in Sweden, learning a language causes areas of the brain associated with memory, namely the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, to increase in size. Like any muscle in the body, regularly exercising your brain can make it stronger and more flexible.

What's more, it has been suggested that learning a second language helps prevent brain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's, and can even have a profound effect on your ability to understand music.

Learning a new language has never been easier.

2. Foreign language study helps you better understand your own language and culture

Learning a foreign language can actually pull a sort of reverse psychology on you and provide you with a better understanding of your own native tongue and culture. This is one of the most unexpected advantages of learning a foreign language. You will become much more conscious of not only cultural customs, but of the grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation patterns of your first language. This likely explains the improvements in listening, reading, and writing skills that foreign language impart to former monolinguals.

3. Gain Perspective

As we explore a new language and culture, we naturally draw comparisons to what is most familiar. Learning about another culture sheds light on aspects of our own culture—both positive and negative—we may not have previously considered. You may find a greater appreciation for what you have, or you may decide to shake things up!

4. Deepen Your Connection to Other Cultures

Language is the most direct connection to other cultures. Being able to communicate in another language exposes us to and fosters an appreciation for the traditions, religions, arts, and history of the people associated with that language. Greater understanding, in turn, promotes greater tolerance, empathy, and acceptance of others—with studies showing that children who have studied another language are more open toward and express more positive attitudes toward the culture associated with that language.

5.Opportunities to travel

By learning a new language, you open up a whole new section of the world for you to comfortably explore. Remember, if you only speak English then you can only communicate with 20% of the world’s population. If, for example, you learn another widely spoken language like Spanish or French, you immediately open up a whole other percentage of the world’s population that you can interact with. Being able to travel with your language is a great way of meeting new people and creating everlasting friendships.

Having skills in more than one language also opens up a world of entertainment – the ability to understand international art and literature can really help to appreciate the world around us.

Traveling is an amazing experience. If you speak the local language or you speak many languages,it changes, it completely changes your experience.

6. Studying a foreign language makes you more open-minded

Foreign language study is simply part of a very basic liberal education. To educate is to lead out—to lead out of confinement and narrowness and darkness. Learning a foreign language and getting soaked into an entirely new culture and worldview is the surest way to become an open-minded, understanding, tolerant individual, and that is absolutely priceless. Once you are aware of the fact that we are all cultural beings, products of our own environments, and that you recognize the cultural base for your own attitudes and behavior, you are ready to consider others in a more favorable light. Seeing the world from a different perspective, and understanding where you and others come from, is a fantastic, eye-opening expérience

7. Learning a foreign language opens up a world of job opportunities

It’s no secret that learning a foreign language can improve your employment prospects. More companies than ever are doing business in several—often dozens of—countries around the world, but they can’t do it without hiring people who have a grasp on at least one foreign language. Even in small, local companies, chances are that the ability to speak a second language will set you apart from other applicants. And in an increasingly competitive job market, why not give yourself every possible edge? 

But, it’s not just about padding your resume. With globalization in full swing, there’s a good chance you’ll be working with people whose first language isn’t English. Maybe it’s a development team in India, or a manufacturing plant in China, or an alternative energy supplier in Germany. Being able to communicate in other languages makes you much more valuable to an employer and having that competitive edge on your resume is without a doubt an eye-catcher. 

8. Feed Your Brain

The many cognitive benefits of learning languages are undeniable. People who speak more than one language have improved memory, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, enhanced concentration, ability to multitask, and better listening skills. They switch between competing tasks and monitor changes in their environment more easily than monolinguals, as well as display signs of greater creativity and flexibility. If that weren’t enough, as we age, being bilingual or multilingual also helps to stave off mental aging and cognitive decline.

Every language that you learn is like a key that unlocks a new pathways to human experience.When you go to the gym and you see all these big guys you realize that the reason why their muscles are so big is that because they work out. Differently from the muscles,actually we can not see the brain itself but the brain works in exactly the same way: if you make your brain work, your brain will become smoother,learner and more efficient and through language learning that can happen very fast.

9. Become a Polyglot

Not only does learning a second language improve communication skills and multiply vocabulary in your first language—yes, really!—but research shows that it makes picking up additional languages a much easier feat, especially among children.That’s because when you learn a new language, you develop new brain networks that are primed and ready when you embark on learning a third language.

10. Boost Your Confidence

Any language learner can attest to making his or her share of mistakes while discovering a new language—often in front of an audience. It’s a necessary part of the learning process! Learning a language means putting yourself out there and moving out of your comfort zone. The upside is the amazing sense of accomplishment you’ll feel when conversing with someone in their native language.

The study of the University of Chicago shows that there is a link between speaking a foreign language and the ability to make wiser financial choices. ... That's the reason why people, who speak a second language, have a higher self-confidence and reassess things in the other language, before they take a decision.

Knowing multiple languages, or even just two, can give your self-confidence an immense boost – it’s a great feeling to be able to recognize when somebody is speaking in that language, or something comes on the TV.

You know that you have an edge over those who know just one language; you are aware that your professional prospects are now much more enhanced; will now be able to appreciate other cultures, talk to many more people, and enjoy movies and music in other languages; you are also likely to be respected by other people, especially those whose language you have made the effort to learn – all these are bound to make you increasingly confident in yourself and your abilities.

11. Form meaningful friendships when you study a foreign language

Learning a new language means you can meet new people. Your life is enriched by making new friends from other countries who appreciate your efforts to speak their language and learn about their culture. Nobody will judge your level because what’s important is that you’re making an effort to communicate with them. You’re making an effort to learn about new cultures and different ways of seeing life.

Meeting new and interesting people and developing lifelong friendships are certainly objectives well worth aspiring for, and learning another language is a sure way to expedite that process. Language helps express our feelings, desires, and connect with other humans around us and forms meaningful relationships. Speaking a foreign language not only opens up a massive pool of potential friends, but it also acts as an instant common denominator when you meet native speakers. Plus, speaking in a foreign tongue can be like speaking in secret code with your new besties. This approach is not exactly a foolproof Enigma machine, but it can make discussing the sordid details of Friday night’s debauchery a little less embarrassing.