The Importance of Learning a Foreign Language

These videos are just for fun but I think learning languages is essential and invaluable.

Languages are a passport to another world.

With a language you can get to know and get involved with the culture. You can meet people from that country and talk to anyone you may meet on the street. You can ask for directions and know what you’re ordering in a restaurant. You can go beneath the surface of the tourist aspect and discover the true secrets about a country and how it works.

A lot of things are “lost in translation”.

If you have ever read a translation in your native language that has been translated from another language and the looked at the original, you will know this. Some of the translations are very embarrassing! There are a lot of idiomatic phrases that cannot be translated because they only make sense in that language. Things like humour and play on words can also only be appreciated in the original language.

 

Physiological studies have found that speaking two or more languages is a great asset to the cognitive process. The brains of bilingual people operate differently than single language speakers, and these differences offer several mental benefits.

You become smarterSpeaking a foreign language improves the functionality of your brain by challenging it to recognise, negotiate meaning, and communicate in different language systems. This skill boosts your ability to negotiate meaning in other problem-solving tasks as well.
You build multitasking skillsMultilingual people, especially children, are skilled at switching between two systems of speech, writing, and structure. According to a study from the Pennsylvania State University, this “juggling” skill makes them good multitaskers, because they can easily switch between different structures. In one study, participants used a driving simulator while doing separate, distracting tasks at the same time. The research found that people who spoke more than one language made fewer errors in their driving.
You stave off Alzheimer’s and dementiaSeveral studies have been conducted on this topic, and the results are consistent. For monolingual adults, the mean age for the first signs of dementia is 71.4. For adults who speak two or more languages, the mean age for those first signs is 75.5. Studies considered factors such as education level, income level, gender, and physical health, but the results were consistent.
Your memory improvesEducators often liken the brain to a muscle, because it functions better with exercise. Learning a language involves memorising rules and vocabulary, which helps strengthen that mental “muscle.” This exercise improves overall memory, which means that multiple language speakers are better at remembering lists or sequences. Studies show that bilinguals are better at retaining shopping lists, names, and directions.
You become more perceptiveA study from Spain’s University of Pompeu Fabra revealed that multilingual people are better at observing their surroundings. They are more adept at focusing on relevant information and editing out the irrelevant. They’re also better at spotting misleading information. Is it any surprise that Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot are skilled polyglots?

The Telegraph