6 Reasons Why You Should Learn Another Language Now

This post may contain affiliate links. Which means if you make a purchase using these links I may recieve a commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for support Miss Millennia Magazine! Read my full disclosure.

Sharing is caring!

Have you ever wanted to learn another language? What held you back? Maybe English isn’t your strong suit so you can’t see yourself doing well with a second language.

Perhaps you started but got stuck on some advanced grammar and quit. Research shows many of us who were not taught a second language starting in elementary school struggle with becoming bilingual later in our adult lives.

How to Learn Another Language More Effectively

There is virtually a never-ending supply of tools available to begin learning a foreign language. Tools like Rosetta Stone make this easy. And it’s best not to overwhelm yourself with language exchange and language study.

Take your time, 30-minutes a day to practice. And try to practice for a short period of time if you decide to do more than 30 minutes a day. It always helps to step away and come back to your target language learning.

Location Matters for Language Learners

Those living in Los Angeles should have no difficulties in finding people who speak whatever language they want to learn. For some other people around the United States and around the world, it may be preferential to select a language corresponding to both the local and surrounding populations. Nowadays, learning new words can be done through android app and tv shows. However, attending language school when young can boost to learn vocabulary of different language.

It is common for Europeans to grow up speaking numerous languages throughout the course of their lives. In other more independent nations, there may be certain languages that are more commonly spoken in the local area and there are a great many benefits to learning these first. Learning these languages locally allows the student to learn the language more effectively by allowing them to interact with native speakers of the language.

This is perhaps most prevalent along the southern border region of the United States where Spanish is as common or even more common than the English language. For the English speakers, it may be difficult to sit home and practice, but at the same time, it may be frustrating to delve too deeply into a culture which they do not yet fully understand.

If you are not in a location that has the influence of other cultures, there are still ways to practice with others! Rosetta Stone offers group coaching online so you can practice with members learning a new language all over the world.

Consider Which Language To Learn

In order to learn Spanish more effectively, care should be taken to mix with the native speakers in addition to hanging with the locals who are more accustomed to the mix of languages in the local area. No matter what language is more prevalent in the local area wherever the student may be, beginning to learn a new language more effectively can quite literally open up doors to a new world! For a more definitive explanation about how to learn Spanish more effectively, read this.

Even though I took French in high school, I lost a lot of it over time. I wish I had stuck with it because I now live in a French/English bilingual city and many jobs require you to know both languages! However, there is no time like the present to start language lessons.

Let’s get started!

There are so many benefits to speaking multiple tongues. From keeping your mind sharp to putting you ahead of the pack in job competitions, you will never regret learning a new language once you get started. On this list, you might even find out some new reasons to study a foreign language that you never thought of before! Read on for my top six reasons you need to learn another language now!

1. Strengthen Your Cognitive Skills

It seems kind of impossible that simply speaking more than one language can make you smarter. But it’s true! When you know multiple languages, your brain is challenged to think in different ways than when you are unilingual.

As a result, it automatically applies those analytical and problem-solving skills to other parts of your life, too. You may even start to think more creatively when you learn another language!

Similarly, being bilingual helps you hone your multitasking skills. Being able to switch between languages at any time teaches your brain to focus on multiple tasks at once. One study from Pennsylvania State University tested people’s multitasking skills while driving.

They were given distracting tasks to complete while in a driving simulator. Those participants who speak more than one language made fewer driving errors, showing that knowing a second language may improve your ability to focus on multiple things at once.

Do you want to become more observant of your surroundings? Speaking another language has been shown to increase perception.

Multilingual people learn how to sift through all the data their brains take in, so they only focus on what’s important. Having to do this with another language naturally lets you become more alert in other environments, too. (The Telegraph)

2. Become Better At English

Now: This one might sound counterintuitive, but hear me out.

When you learn another language, you become hyper-aware of your native language. So if you already speak English, you will think more about English grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary because you are learning about all of those things in another language. While you are not directly studying English, you will take note of smaller details of how the language works that you may not have thought about before.

As a result, your communication skills in English are sure to improve. Because you are thinking more about the meanings of words and the structures of language, you may become a better writer and editor. Your listening skills might improve, too! Studying a second language makes you better at distinguishing meaning, so don’t be surprised if you are suddenly really good at “reading between the lines” when talking to others.

3. Improve Your Memory

Want to improve your memory? Learn another language. Just like any other muscle in the body, your brain needs frequent exercise to stay sharp. That’s why people who take part in brain-intensive hobbies after they retire are at a lower risk of losing their mental capacities.

While doing puzzles or playing an instrument are other good options for keeping your mind “in shape,” knowing more than one language will also build stronger mental muscle.

When your brain has to switch between two totally different vocabularies and sets of grammar rules, it is working harder to communicate every day. This daily mental exercise makes bilingual people better at remembering other things, including grocery lists, people’s names, and where they parked their car.

Though it’s far down the road of life, being able to speak more than one language may even be able to let you enjoy your twilight years for longer. Many studies have shown that people who speak two or more languages show signs of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease years later than unilingual people. Whenever you don’t feel like doing that language lesson, think about the fact that it may help you spend a longer, happier life with your family in real world! (The Telegraph)

4. Have An Edge In The Job Market

Let’s be honest. Nowadays, it is HARD to set yourself apart from the crowd.

Whether you are applying for college or a job, it seems that education and experience don’t have the same value as they once did. Everyone has degrees and did their time at internships, so you need some unique skills behind your name to help you stand out.

That’s probably the number one reason you should learn another language right now.

Even if the program or job you are applying for doesn’t require knowledge of a second language, it will make you look super smart! For one thing, employers will connect your bilingualism to all of those amazing cognitive skills I outlined earlier in this post. Problem-solving, being perceptive, multitasking, and analyzing all look awesome on any application!

Additionally, the world we live in today is globally connected. The ability to speak a second (or third, or fourth) language is a powerful one. It will allow an organization to work with a new group of clients who also speak that language. For this reason, knowledge of another language is a huge resume booster.

Being able to speak a second language can also open so many more doors for your career or education than if you are unilingual. If you speak fluent German, why not apply to that cool job in Berlin? Know Spanish?

Take a leap of faith and apply to a university in Madrid. Even jobs based in the US need people to travel to foreign offices for meetings or short-term postings, and being bilingual makes you the perfect candidate for these.

5. Increase Your Respect For Other Cultures

If you genuinely want to understand another culture, learn its language. It’s not uncommon to act culturally biased without even realizing it. We grow up doing things a certain way, so, naturally, we consider other ways of life to be “weird.” However, if you learn another language, you might find yourself with a lot more respect for the culture that speaks it.

The way that societies structure their languages and vocabulary is like a window into their values. You will realize that your culture is not better or worse than another in any way, merely different, leading to more positive views of the other culture. Who knows, you may even start to think differently about values and practices that have always been a part of your life!

Once you begin to understand more about another culture, you will likely become a more tolerant and welcoming person. Seeing that people who speak other languages are not some “other” helps you embrace cultural diversity and become less fearful of those who are different from you. This attitude can help you make new friends, forge better business connections, and be an overall kinder person to be around.

When you learn another language, a whole new world of art, film, and music opens up to you. While you were once stuck with reading subtitles, you can now enjoy foreign films with a new understanding, literally. You can read books in their original language instead of translations to get a better feel for the author’s meaning. (Auburn University)

6. Feel Amazing!

The most important reason you should learn another language is that it will make you feel great about yourself!

Successfully tackling any new skill or experience as an adult can provide you with a huge sense of accomplishment. Becoming bilingual brings an exciting new element to your life and gives you something to talk about when people ask, “What’s been up with you?”

It might sound silly, but doing new things can give you a confidence boost.

As young adults, we often get stuck in a routine of working, coming home, and sleeping. We barely have time for social lives, let alone life enrichment! So when you do carve out time to do something you’ve never tried before (like studying a foreign language), you’ll feel more confident and adventurous.

This is the perfect way to stay motivated about your personal growth. You will also realize your self-worth when you are feeling down about your skills.

BONUS REASON: Enrich Your Travel Experience to Learn Another Language

Many Millennials love to travel.

When you speak more than one language, world travel becomes so much easier and even more enjoyable. Speaking at least some of the language of wherever you are visiting can put you at ease.

Instead of constantly typing words into your translator or studying a phrasebook, you can focus on your surroundings. Traveling will feel less stressful, and you will be able to see places through a different lens.

Here Are Even More Reasons You Should Learn Another Language!

Still not sure if you should learn another language? While the six reasons above are pretty darn good (I might be biased), the video below discusses seven reasons you should be bilingual. The narrator fluently speaking nine different languages, so this video is definitely the final boost you may need!

Ready To Get Started?

When you’re an adult, learning any new skill can be difficult. As we age, our brains are so overtaken with all the information we have in there that it is harder to learn new things.

Being set in our ways of thinking and doing things doesn’t make it easy, either! Becoming bilingual is so worth the challenge, though. You will not only gain a helpful new skill but also boost your confidence because you accomplished something difficult!

If you aren’t sure where to start with learning a second language, give Rosetta Stone a try. Unlike other language-learning programs that provide you with boring worksheets full of vocabulary words, this company strives to help you learn a new language in a real-life context. Conversations don’t come with tidy scripts!

They have a ton of languages you can choose from to improve your vocabulary and grammar. Here is there list of languages you can learn:

• Arabic
• Dutch
• Filipino
• German
• Greek
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Irish
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Mandarin Chinese
• Persian
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish
• French
• Sweedish
• Turkish
• Vietnamese

Pronunciation is just as important as reading and writing the words. You will also learn to perfect your accent with their TruAccent® feature which gives you a score on how accurate your pronunciation of certain phrases are. Pretty cool right?

They also have another cool feature called Seek & Speak®. This lets you partake in a fun scavenger hunt-like activity for everyday items. For example, like fruits and veggies. It tasks you with seeking out a list of items, and once you take an image of one of the items, it will translate it for you.

Individuals and corporations have used Rosetta Stone for over 25 years, so you know that their methods work. With so many languages included on Rosetta Stone, you will find one (or more!) that you’re interested in.

It gets better.

Unlike the olden days when you were tied to a desktop computer and your CD-ROMs, you can now take Rosetta Stone with you everywhere! Simply open the app on your mobile device and start learning! You can even download lessons for when you’re in a no WiFi zone (like the subway).

It’s easy to fit your daily language lessons in during any little free time you have like at the gym, on your commute, or before bed.

An annual subscription to Rosetta Stone is only $9.99 a month and gives you access to all of the languages. They also have a Lifetime Subscription, and to join you only need to pay a one-time fee of $179! Or if you wanna try it out before committing, their 3-month subscription costs $11.99 per month.

Get a subscription to Rosetta Stone language software for you or a friend here!

If you have ever wanted to learn another language, do it now! Make travel more enjoyable, stave off memory loss, connect with new people, or just give yourself a confidence boost. I promise you won’t regret it.

Grab your Rosetta Stone subscription and get started on those language courses today. It will change your life!

Do you know more than one language? Why do you think people should learn another language? We’d love to hear your opinions in the comments below!