Learning A Foreign Language: Your Choice
Introduction
It is certainly true that English is the ‘lingua franca’ of the business world, however this does not necessarily equate to “I speak English, so I do not need to learn another language”. The movie ‘Lost in Translation’ received good acclaim in 2003 for the portrayal of two Americans meeting in Japan ponders over themes such as loneliness, alienation, struggles that mono lingual English speakers face when they are forced to rely on the language skills of others. Data suggests that English is spoken only by 4.7% of world population and learning a foreign language has far reaching effects such as increasing our global understanding, sharpen Cognitive skills, Increase employability potential, Increase changes of success while working or studying abroad and overall to appreciate and understand diverse cultures. My personal choice of a foreign language is Spanish.
Background
I was born and raised in India in an urban setting and I learned to read and write in 3 languages (Tamil – Native language, Hindi and English) even before joining under-graduate college. Experts say that children who have studied a language at the elementary level tend to score higher on tests, language arts and math. Those that have learnt foreign languages tend to show greater cognitive skills towards problem solving, conceptualizing and reasoning. The 10th Prime Minister of India, P.V Narasimha Rao was very widely known as a intellect and he can speak
Extensive research has been done on learning and speaking languages, and its known that people who speak multiple languages have better cognitive abilities than those who speak one language. Adults that speak many languages have higher intelligence, more perspective of
Second languages are vital. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have the ability to speak ten out of the near seven thousand languages that are spoken in the world today? It is certainly evident that it would be pretty astonishing but also undoubtedly complex and mind-boggling. From Afrikaans and French, to German and Swahili, foreign languages are responsible for one thing; enabling easy communication and the ability to interact with others in whatever language you may speak. In today’s society, approximately one fifth of the global population speaks English. So, learning another language is inevitably crucial for education, work and travel. It is also important for making real connections with others, broadening your horizons and can even give you an even more in-depth understanding of your own native language. But what advantages do foreign languages have?
Learning a second language is something that numerous people have attempted to do throughout the years. The motivation for doing this, be it intrinsic or extrinsic, varies from student to student. Learning a second language becomes effective when teachers are able to identify students’ individual learning problems, apply diverse methods and approaches to solve them, and nourish students’ learning motivation.
When entering a new market, at least one of the company representatives must know the language of the country. Even though the most common language used in the international business world is English, many countries have a very poor command of the English language therefore it is highly beneficial to have an employee that speaks the language. It is in benefit of the business to get the best deals, make negotiations and agreements however without a common language this can sometimes lead to misunderstanding and hiring a translator can be very expensive.
Knowing another language puts a person in an advantage of carrier selection. In our extreme and fast moving environment, people who know more than one language have more employment opportunities. Many professional firms require knowledge of second language. And people who know a second language have a huge advantage over those who do not.
“One of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time”, Federico Fellini once stated that “A different language is a different vision of life” and I, in my turn tend to say that he was perfectly right. A person who speaks more than one language can experience multiple personalities, visions and reflections consisting which language is he speaking. High School students should comprehend the real benefit of speaking a foreign language. Being a multilingual myself and speaking fluently four languages and studying another two, I consider that I am qualified enough to persuade that my argument is strong, plausible and not ultimately-right. In the following paragraphs I am going to address the following three reasons why should other High School students learn at least one foreign language? Firstly, learning a new language enhances performances in the academic domain and makes you smarter. Secondly, knowing a new language is a high estimated and a very valuable characteristic in your professional CV. Thirdly, international travel is more pleasant through knowing a foreign language.
One should learn a foreign language to be able to make more money. Being a bilingual worker , that person can make more money than the average person who can only speak one language. According to an article , written by Morgan Rush , this is an anecdotal evidence that some companies pay bilingual workers more. Suppose if someone come to a store , they need help , but they only speak Spanish . What will one do ? Americans should think about these things when choosing whether they should learn a foreign language or not. Do not just think about how you can benefit from learning another language but about how others will benefit from it also.
English as we know it is indeed the dominant language, but does that mean everyone should learn it? Should English be the global language? Should you have to know English to communicate if you are someone that lives in a place where the native language is something different? The answer is no. However, first you must consider the statement “It is a fact that English is the dominant language in the world today. Everyone, in every country, in order to participate in the modern world, should learn English. After all, a language is just a random collection of words, so how hard can it be”. Personally, I believe it is tremendously difficult to learn a new language as an adult, but in order to make the world go round, we all should know more than one language; no one language should rule. Barbara Wallraff, David Crystal, and John Tagliabue share a few words that connect to the statement to show their personal mindset behind English being a global language. In this essay, I will extract statements from each of the authors that explain their views on a global language to support my overall perception.
As time progresses, foreign languages are being abandoned in English-speaking countries. This is because English is becoming a dominant language in international affairs. A common question has arisen because of this situation as Americans are left wondering what will become of foreign languages in the future. At this present time, monolingual English speakers are at a disadvantage. Being multilingual offers better opportunities in the working field and improves brain flexibility. On the other hand, it is understandable that it can be useless as English is becoming an international language and it is expected that people who live in America should know English already.
On the one hand, it is stated the only reason why we should learn a new language is for travelling to work. In fact, if a person could use a new language fluency, he would get many benefits when he works in other countries, such as he can not only have more opportunities to get a promotion in his career, but also expand the business for his company. For example,
Learning a new language always brings with it many issues, but mainly when this one it is not very usual in your environment. I am from the Dominican Republic, a country located in the Caribbean which is visited by a big amount of tourist the whole year. The English Language is very useful due to it allows the people to communicate with all the visitors in all the tourist areas and through all the country, however I live in a non tourist area and a new language learning it's not easy to perform.
Whether one is confronted by international or non-native English speaking clients or customers, the years of Spanish or other foreign languages studied in high school can shine through, impressing whomever one is confronting. An approach to the four-year foreign language policy should not be to avoid taking it again in college, but rather to better oneself. It is no secret that the United States is the only industrialized nation that does not implement a national foreign language requirement. According to the 2006 General Social Survey, it stated: “Only 25% of American adults self-report speaking a language other than English.” (qtd. in Devlin). In countries such as Germany, Italy, and France, the numbers are more than double of the percentage, revealing a shocking contrast how much the US
Bilingualism will someday be a skill that is necessary to succeed in life. Already, most colleges in the United States expect incoming freshmen to have studied a foreign language for three or more years. High school students are sometimes surprised by these requirements because it is difficult to master a foreign language that they have only begun to study in their teenage years. Foreign language education is important worldwide today because it improves children’s growth patterns and helps children understand cultural aspects of the foreign language.
Companies that do business abroad have a dire need for bilingual or multilingual employees. Government agencies, education, business, entertainment, and a broad array of occupations all have needs for people with foreign language skills” (IRCSD). The United States continues to have one of the highest immigration rates of any country in the world, and the ability to comprehend another language is useful for communication regarding day to day work (Miller). The ability to converse with co-workers or customers, internationally or in local offices, can make daily life considerably easier. Knowing foreign languages creates an edge over monolingual applicants competing for the same jobs. In addition, it provides the opportunity for a higher salary
Language is a key part of any family, community, culture and the human race. Without language the world today would be much different. From cavemen, to the Egyptian use of hieroglyphics, to Old English, to more than 6,500 languages spoken around the world today, the advances that humans have made in language is remarkable and inspiring. The ability to speak, read, write and understand more than one language is also remarkable and expands the liberties in life, especially for young people. High school students should be required to take at least two years of a foreign language class in order to graduate, as many recent studies support the benefits of doing so. Students who have learned a foreign language in high school have proven to have a