If you are a student or a working professional or a specialist of your field, you may be contemplating, should I learn a new language or not. 

Read along and find your answer!

In today’s increasingly interdependent and fast-paced world, people from different backgrounds, ethnicities and languages are interacting now more than ever before. Speaking a foreign language has become an essential skill that gives the ability to communicate and connect with people from all over the world in a quicker and more meaningful way. Considering the continual globalisation, knowing a foreign language will always give you a significant advantage. While learning a new language is fun-filled, it also introduces you to a whole new world and opens the doors for endless new opportunities. You may learn a new language for all sorts of reasons – to work or study in another country, move abroad, or simply for pleasure. No matter your motivation is, but the experience of studying a new language will enrich your life more than anything.

In this blog I will be discussing some of the tangible benefits of being a bilingual. I hope by the end of this blog you would be already considering learning a new language.

More Career Options to Choose From

First things first, knowing a foreign language can drastically change and boost your career. In the highly competitive job market, employers are looking to hire someone that stands out from the rest of the candidates, and adding a second (or third, or fourth) language to your CV gives you an unparalleled advantage over others and you instantly become a valuable asset to the company. Many companies are opening offices overseas to extend their businesses and employees are often asked to travel for work, enhance the customer relationships, or be relocated abroad. So the need for bilingual candidates is greater than ever. Just to name few fields among many where bilinguals are high in demand are customer service, hospitality, healthcare, information technology, entertainment industry and administrative work. The roles for bilinguals range from being a translator, interpreter, project- coordinator or a language trainer. Having language skills alongside your specializations is an added advantage, you can be a bilingual (or multilingual) coder or tester or a Project Manager, a bilingual chef, or even a bilingual doctor!

Makes Studying abroad easier 

As there has been a growing trend among students who are opting to study abroad, more and more universities are opening their doors for the foreign students by offering scholarships, student exchange programs and internships. If you plan to study the language spoken in that country in advance, it will ease your life in so many different ways. Learning the language will give you an insight in their culture and you will be more prepared and confident to travel and explore other people’s ways of living. By knowing the language already, it will make it easier to mingle with your classmates and locals, your day-to-day life will get much easier and it will also help you bag part time jobs while you are studying.

You Build Multitasking Skills

Believe it or not, learning a new language has a direct impact on your brain. Bilinguals demonstrate more efficient brain functioning. It also enhances your memory and improves problem solving capacity. This in turn helps the brain to stay healthy even when you get older. Other advantages of learning a new language is that you develop multitasking skills and it also boosts your creativity. The brain continuously practices switching from one language to the other every day. When the brain gets used to this demanding job, it becomes quiet easy for the bilinguals to use this skill in other tasks, too. Alternatively by exposing yourself to new culture, new words and phrases, changes your views and makes you more original, elaborate and flexible-all qualities of being a creative person. It forces your brain to put words together in creative ways, which stimulates your brain and boosts your creativity.

It Boosts Your Self-Esteem and Self-confidence

Oh yes!! To be able to speak in different languages boosts your self- esteem like nothing else. When talking in a foreign language, you tend to make mistakes, yet continue trying to speak, it breaks you out of your shell eventually and you feel comfortable in every situation regardless of whether you’re making mistakes or not. Trust me, nothing beats the confidence you feel when talking to a native speaker in their language. Becoming proficient in a language is like mastering any other skill. Once you’re there, you’ll feel confident and nice about yourself and have a sense achievement. And rightly you should, because mastering a new language from scratch is not easy! You would have spent months and years of time, hard work, consistency and patience. As a bilingual or multilingual, you will be received with gratitude and curiosity.

First Language improves

Toddlers learn their mother tongue intuitively and without any formal education just by hearing, it just comes naturally to humans. However, learning another language is a whole different drill. As beginners, you’ll get introduced to the grammar, vocabulary, phrases, and sentence structure. While you are learning more about the new language, you become more aware of what you know in your first language. Furthermore, you become conscious of the differences and similarities between the languages. All these factors deepen your comprehension and improves your conversation that make you better at your first language. Learning a language will never go waste, it is always a win-win situation.

Increases networking skills

As the world is coming closer, networking skills have become more important. Learning a language helps you to open up to a new culture which in turn allows you to be more flexible and appreciative of other people’s opinions and actions. You have the advantage of seeing the world from different perspectives, which enhances your ability to communicate efficiently in today’s globally connected world. Communicating in someone’s native language shows respect, and it allows you to connect on a deeper level. You might be surprised how instantly people open up when you speak their mother tongue. The fact that you can speak their mother tongue, is enough to break the ice and strike a conversation and that’s the beginning to have a cool circle of international friends!

 Improves your discipline

Learning a new language is a demanding and challenging task. You need to dedicate time, efforts and consistency. Committing yourself to such a big task and following through with it is definitely going to help you build good habits. Training yourself in discipline is a great idea because it can spread to other areas of your life like your work and hobbies. This helps you grow as a person who is dedicated and driven to achieve their goals.

The benefits of learning another language are innumerable. The ones mentioned in this list are just a part of them and I am sure you will find your own benefits from your own language learning experience and journey. And also remember, you are never too old to learn a new language! The world moves fast, and we must keep up with the changes – by developing new skills!