There are so many reasons to learn foreign languages and zero reasons not to acquire this useful skill. And the best time to start learning a new language is today! From cultural understanding to improved memory and beyond, read on to discover eight reasons why studying a different language is beneficial.
This story is brought to you in partnership with Rosetta Stone.
1. Gain a better understanding of other cultures.
Language is the key to truly understanding another culture. Language Magazine says, “A particular language points to the culture of a particular social group. Learning a language, therefore, is not only learning the alphabet, the meaning, the grammar rules and the arrangement of words, but it is also learning the behavior of the society and its cultural customs.”
2. Prevent or slow Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia.
According to Alzheimers.net, “speaking two languages requires a specific type of brain training and switching between two languages requires a specific type of attention. That part of the brain, if exercised, may be what delays certain types of dementia.” Now, that's a good reason to give the gift of language to someone you love!
3. Language skills can boost your career.
Language skills can open doors for workers. WorkItDaily says, “For companies that regularly deal with international clients, bilingualism is an extremely attractive trait in a candidate. They like having an employee on hand who can engage clients with relative ease. Bilingualism also appeals to companies interested in entering new markets, which is becoming increasingly common in this age of start-ups. Simply put, speaking a second language can help your resume stand out in a sea of qualified applicants.”
While residents of many countries speak multiple languages, most Americans do not. According to American Academy President Jonathan Fanton in an EducationWeek article, “While English continues to be the most commonly used language for world trade and diplomacy, there is an emerging consensus among leaders in business and government, teachers, and scientists that proficiency in English is not sufficient to meet the nation’s needs in a shrinking world.” Don’t be left behind in a world full of language skills!
4. Speaking a foreign language improves emotional intelligence.
It's not just raw IQ that determines success. Equally important is emotional intelligence, the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships empathetically.
According to two recent studies, it appears that multilingual speakers demonstrate increased empathy. This story by the SundayReview states, “Multilingual exposure, it seems, facilitates the basic skills of interpersonal understanding.”
5. Discover a new side of your personality.
This article by Quartz Media explains something I thought was unique to me. When speaking another language, a different side of your personality may emerge. The author says, “When you learn a new language, you’re not just memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules—you also have a chance to tap into new parts of your identity.”
As an American foreign exchange student living in France, some friends teased me that I had a totally different personality when I spoke French than when I spoke English. I was more reserved and quieter. I even spoke in a higher voice in French. Turns out, I was revealing my French side.
6. Improve the understanding of your native language.
When I tell people that I was a French major, I am often met with giggles and rude comments like, “What a useful subject! How's that working out for you?” Very well, merci beaucoup.
I use my French skills every day, in a way. As a travel writer, I use language to earn a living. Reading, writing, and speaking French have given me a better understanding of my native tongue, English. I bet I understand the root meanings of words and the structure of sentences better than most people who have not learned another language.
The Telegraph says, “Learning a foreign language draws your focus to the mechanics of language: grammar, conjugations, and sentence structure. This makes you more aware of language, and the ways it can be structured and manipulated. These skills can make you a more effective communicator and a sharper editor and writer.” So there!
8. Make travel easier and more fun.
One of the best reasons to learn a new language is to make travel easier and more fun! This study shows that vacationers actually tend to enjoy their trips more during the planning phase than they do during the actual travel phase. What better way to enjoy and prepare for your trip than by learning some of your destination's language?
It's also the polite thing to do. Locals always appreciate when travelers at least make an attempt to speak their language. This means you'll be more warmly welcomed at restaurants, stores, and elsewhere at your destination.
Having an understanding of the local language makes getting around and communicating easier and less stressful, too. Plus, you just may strike up some fun conversations and make friends. Moments of true connection with others are the stories we tell back at home and remember long after the vacation has ended.
Start learning a new language today!
Rosetta Stone helped me brush up on my French skills before a trip to Paris with my kids and then our whole family used Rosetta Stone to learn Spanish before a month-long stay in Mexico. Are we fans? Oui and si! Read my full review of Rosetta Stone for families now!
Subscribe to Rosetta Stone online language learning program to learn a language today. Choose from any of their 25 languages like Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Mandarin. The intuitive system is easy to follow and fun to do.
Save $10 on Your Rosetta Stone Subscription!
Need another reason to learn a new language with Rosetta Stone today? Save $10 on your Rosetta Stone Lifetime Subscription, when you sign up using this special link just for Travel Mamas readers!
(The price is already reflected on the page. See regular pricing here.)
Save these reasons to learn a foreign language
Be sure to keep this list of eight reasons why you should learn a foreign language for future reference and motivation. Just pin the image below to Pinterest. Go ahead and follow Travel Mamas on Pinterest while you’re at it!
Can you think of other reasons to learn a new language? Let us know in the comments below!
A Note from The Travel Mama: I received a free three-month Rosetta Stone subscription plus monetary compensation related to this story. I love Rosetta Stone so much, I later purchased the Lifetime Language subscription myself.
About Colleen Lanin, The Travel Mama
I would love to learn French & Spanish
You have charted out some very interesting reasons to learn a foreign language. I really didn’t know language learning could have any great impact on Alzheimer’s Disease. This blog is truly informative and I like the way you have stated all the facts. Thanks for sharing this blog.
With almost all the country’s speaking English nowadays, Thank you for reminding me that the Elementary class of French i took in high school is not all a waste.. will keep on polishing on the little i know..
Very genuine reasons, I like them.
Thank you, David!
I would like to learn French.
I would love to learn German!
I would love Italian.
I would like to learn Spanish with it since that will become even more important to know within the USA.
I need to brush up on my Spanish !
I speak Spanish and French. I would like to learn Cantonese because it’s one of my ancestral languages.
I would love to learn Italian or Spanish!
I would like to learn Italian.
I would like to learn Spanish!
I really want to learn Spanish and Chinese.
I would like to re-learn Japanese
I would love to learn Spanish.
I would love to learn Spanish.
I would love to learn Spanish!
I would love to learn more Spanish
I would like to learn Italian.
Spanish would be most useful.
I’d love to learn Spanish as I am about to become a nurse in Texas! Thank you for the opportunity!
German or Spanish! Thank you!
I would love to learn Spanish, i hear so many people speak it and i want to too now.
This would be for my grandson, and he is an OTR trucker who says he comes in contact with many drivers from other countries who have been brought over because of the need for drivers here. Right now he is most interested in Russian (apparently there are a lot from there).
I would love to learn Spanish and Gaelic.
French for sure!!!
My husband might need to go to Germany for a few years for work so I definitely want to learn German to make it easier if we moved there.
I would love to learn French and Italian!
I would love to learn Italian! I have taken a few Spanish classes in college, so hopefully that will help the Italian go more smoothly!
I would like to learn French.
I would like to learn Spanish.
I would like to get Rosetta Stone to learn Spanish.
I would want to learn Spanish and have heard that Rosetta Stone is effective.
I would love to learn Russian, Mandarin, Arabic and of course Swedish and Norwegian.
I would love to learn Greek
I’d like to learn any of my nationalities languages: Italian, German or Polish. Thanks and God Bless!
I would like to learn Spanish, it is my heritage but I never learned it.
My husband is from Germany and he is always trying to teach me German, so I would pick German.
I think I would like to learn Spanish.
I would love to learn Spanish! It’s always been a goal of mine.
It’s not important which language(s) I’d like to learn because I’d be winning this for my daughter. She’s been begging me for at least 3 years to teach her to speak Italian (I was once fluent). I definitely need a refresher!
Spanish
I would like to learn German.
I’d like to learn Spanish since so many people speak it where I live.
I would love to learn Spanish (and pirate). Thanks!
Italian or Greek – or in fact improve my French which I can read better than I can speak!
Spanish and Russian.
I would like to learn Italian and Japanese
I would like to learn french!
I would start with French. I married into a family where a lot of french is spoken but I barely speak a word. I always feel like I’m at a disadvantage. This would be most helpful in the work place as well & no doubt when travelling
I would love to learn Spanish.
Greek
Spanish. Started to learn it in uni, but never got very far.
I took Spanish when younger (a long time ago!) – and I’d love to really dig in and learn. I’ve heard great things about Rosetta Stone.
I’d love to learn Latin American Spanish. I know a lot of people from Mexico and it would be great to speak with them in their first language!
Spanish
Spanish would be my choice
Learning Spanish would really help me.
I’ve always wanted to learn Irish or Scottish Gaelic!
I would love to learn Japanese
I think I would learn Spanish, our best friends live in Mexico and we spend a lot of time there.
I would love to learn Italian!
I’m learning German and it is fun to learn an unfamiliar language and the challenges that come on the way.
I would like to learn spanish.
My daughter wants to learn latin over the summer. I took it when I was in school and it really helped through high school and college entrance exams so it would be great for her.
My daughter wants to learn Chinese (she wants to travel there), son wants to learn Korean (because of Taekwondo and now he wants to travel there), and I want to learn Spanish!
I would like to get Rosetta Stone for Korean.
Spanish for me! I know just enough to get myself in trouble and confused. I’d love to finish learning!!
Would love to learn Spanish.
Spanish please
Probably spanish, french or even japanese
I would love to learn Spanish or mandarin.
I would like to learn Italian
I am semi-fluent in Mandarin and Spanish. I would love to have complete fluency, including learning how to read and write Chinese. If there was any other language I would love to learn, it would be Italian. I agree with all of the benefits you listed, and other than those, learning a new language is always a fun experience!
German or Spanish
I would like to learn Spanish.
I would love to learn Spanish, my hubby wants to learn Hebrew.
I’d like to learn Spanish with Rosetta Stone. Thanks for the giveaway!
French – my wife’s family over there speaks it at home.
I would love to learn Bulgarian as I’ve been trying at it from time to time but I don’t know if Rosetta Stone offers it. I would otherwise choose Turkish!
I would like to lean German. I love the sound of their language!
I would love to learn French
I always wanted to learn Spanish.
I would like to learn french. Mandarin and japanese if they have it.
I would love to learn French!
I would like to learn Spanish.
I would like to learn German with Rosetta Stone.
I would love to learn Dutch since my fiance is Dutch and I think Dutch sounds very romantic!
I would learn Spanish or brush up on my French.
Spanish is probably the one I would get the most use out of. I don’t see ever needing French or German, unless I was moving to Canada.
I”d like to learn Spanish!
Though I’d love to learn Korean, Japanese, or Gaelic, I’d go pick learning Spanish. Where I live, there are a lot of Spanish speakers, and being bilingual is a plus.
I would love to learn Spanish or French.
I want to learn Spanish. I tried in high school but never became fluent.
french!
I already speak Spanish but my kids don’t. I would like for them to learn Spanish.
I would like to finish learning Spanish. I took several years, but I never finished. I have a couple of others I am interested in too.
Hard to choose–I’d love to learn French, but I’m also interested in Swedish, Arabic, and Japanese! If I were to choose a language for my kids it would probably be Spanish. 🙂
I would like to learn Italian
Learning a foreign language sounds fun and interesting! I would love to check this out.
My niece used Rosetta Stone to learn another language before studying aboard for a semester. Putting yourself in the mix with native speakers is important, but Rosetta Stone is a trusted program to give a solid foundation for a language.
Spanish. I live in a border state and would love to be able to communicate with my neighbors. 🙂 Thank you.
I’ve always wanted to learn Spanish since as a native Filipino speaker, I have been exposed to the language since my childhood. I’ve looked into Rosetta Stone before and thanks to this very helpful post, I might just look into it again 😉
I am trying to relearn my high school French before he head to France this summer. I would choose the Rosetta Stone French program first, but next year I am hoping to start learning Spanish as well.
I would like to learn French well enough to visit a French speaking country.
I would love to learn Spanish. I took two years in high school and loved it.
I would love to learn Spanish
I’d love to learn Spanish! I am from Texas and am embarrassed that I don’t know Spanish.
I’ve heard so many people say how good Rosetta Stone is, I have to admit I dislike that I cannot speak another language, I have enough trouble with English though! But I might try one day and see if I can at least learn to speak it without having to write it.
I wish I had this when I was taking Spanish in college. I bet it would have been super helpful!
This was very interesting. I did not know that learning a second language could prevent or slow Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia. I did learn Spanish and had the opportunity to use it throughout my professional career. So many great things result from learning a second language.
I am always ready to learn new language but this time I want to win this for my sister-in-law. she recently have moved here in USA. She really can get help learning American English using Rosetta Stone. This would be a nice welcome gift for her family.
I’m thinking Spanish might be the one I’d like to learn better.
A very important lesson here. I would love to learn German. I hope my son will want to learn another language as it’s so important in today’s society.
I speak Hebrew and it was so helpful when I went to Israel recently on a press trip. I agree that learning and speaking the language is the polite thing to do and improves your ability to engage the people and take in the culture.
I think learning another language would be beneficial for travel reasons and for business. It may impress the foreign businesses you’re slated to work with, as well with carrying on conversations in the host country. Rosetta Stone has been on the forefront of foreign language teaching.
I’d love to learn Spanish!
My mom worked as a UN interpreter when she was younger and speaks a ton of different languages, I do not have nearly as many under my belt. I took French in school, still hoping to visit France someday! 🙂
There’s been plenty of research affirming the cognitive benefits of learning a new language. This is such a great post.
I would love to learn Italian and travel to Italy to discover my roots.
The local language is the best way to communicate.
I’d like to learn Spanish.
I would go with Italian or Japanese! 🙂