What are the advantages of learning a foreign language?

Today’s interconnected world requires us to be proficient in more than one language because it counts as an additional skill. While learning a new language is extremely beneficial if you travel to another country to pursue higher studies, it also expands the horizon of career opportunities for you. Some of the best advantages of learning a foreign language are as follows:

Improves learning capacity

When you decide to learn a foreign language, you also get to know about new rules, language structure and vocabulary. Thus, your brain will embrace the complexity of new patterns to be able to comprehend the newness of the language to be learnt. In the process of attempting to learn how to communicate in a new language, our learning skills get expanded as we develop problem-solving skills. Learning a new language also give you advanced cognitive thinking skills which have a positive impact on your personal as well as professional life.

Ability to multitask

If you are not accustomed to multi-tasking, it might appear extremely frustrating when you try your hand at it. Switching from one language to another with comfort and ease requires a certain level of dexterity. Therefore, linguists are skilled to think in more than one language and can multitask easily.

Boosts memory

The brain works more efficiently when it is exposed to challenging situations. Learning a new language requires one to become familiar with a new set of grammar rules and thus, it also requires one to understand and memorize them to be able to use the newly-acquired knowledge in a better way. The brain gets enough exercise when we start to learn a new language. It can also be concluded that a linguist’s brain gets more exercise and thus is better in recollecting facts and figures.

Enhances decision-making skills

Studies have also shown that linguists tend to have excellent decision-making skills. It is not just the vocabulary of the new language that one should learn, but one also must master the regional expressions which in turn will strengthen your understanding of any minute hidden meaning and a better grasp of the contextual meanings of various words and phrases of the foreign language. Further, with rigorous practice, linguists also improve their decision-making skills which have a positive effect on one’s real life.

More efficiency in the first language

When you start practicing a new language, you eventually become more aware of the nuances of your own language. Expanded vocabulary, conjugation, grammar, phrases, comprehension and idioms further enable you to be more intuitive about the new language as you derive clarity by thinking in your own language. When you develop an understanding of a new language, you also improve your listening skills.
Learning a foreign language also enables us to establish a deeper connection with other cultures of the world. By being able to communicate in a new language, we become more respectful of other religions, arts, history, traditions, cultural practices that are associated with the language on a deeper level. This further reward us with the gift of connecting with people belonging to other cultures and have enriched personal and professional experiences.