The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown made us sit at our homes, enjoying being alone or with our families. We occupied ourselves with various home-sitting tasks. Some of us would love to push ourselves to something new, improve our skills and maybe learn something new. Learning a new language is the way to move your life towards better results.
The world develops as long as you create yourself. Globalization is the primary vector of all the business and life processes now. Languages push the emergence of common world culture, the combination of national traditions, and the strengthening of cooperation between nations. There is no question of how to start speaking a foreign language, but the question is what it can bring you.
New Language Can Improve The Cognitive Functions
We will start with the inner influence a new language can have on your life to make it better. Speaking one or more foreign languages can improve your communication and cognitive skills. There are some of them that you can’t omit, so we’d like to stress them.
Photo by Paolo Nicolello on Unsplash
It Can Boost Concentration
The nations that speak several languages are better at filtering out similar words than those who speak only one language. This ability helps you block out various distractions and focus on one task.
Even minimal knowledge of a second language offers significant benefits of being more concentrated and productive. Knowing several languages proved to reduce the risk of dementia.
It Can Improve Communication Skills
Communication with other people is the essence of learning a new language. It is better to study with a native speaker or those who already know the language. Practice it to improve communication and other skills.
It’s just like riding a bike: you learn how to ride it not by watching lots of videos, you need to sit down and start pedaling. Language learning is about immersion in a new culture, the opportunity to look at the world from a completely different angle, and learn to empathize. These qualities will change your life for the better.
New Language Can Make You More Creative
Speaking one or several foreign languages, we have to look for synonyms and build words into the sentences so that the person we communicate with understands us.
Photo by Adli Wahid on Unsplash
A new language improves creative thinking skills by forcing us to seek multiple solutions to one problem. Researchers believe that people who speak several languages have larger brains and more developed cognitive & creative skills.
It Can Help You With Confidence
It increases our confidence when we succeed in learning a language, no matter how small our victory is. Being able to have a short conversation with a native speaker can make us more confident. It means that we can do what used to be impossible.
The study says that speaking a foreign language boosts the kids’ confidence and improves it for the grown-ups. Your positive mindset strengthens over time and helps us achieve goals in any area of your life.
New Languages Can Help You Learn New Cultures
Language is not just the way of communication: it is a whole layer of culture that it carries in itself. You can gain all that by learning the language of the poets, musicians, and writers.
It works vice versa as well. It is a fact that people interested in the culture and history of any country study the language. Some, carried away by capoeira or salsa, don’t realize how they ended up on the pavement of Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires dancing tango.
People also start learning languages because they can’t find an adequate translation of specific content. It is an excellent stimulus for self-improvement that you also can try to change your life for the better.
An expedition to exotic countries, a few weeks spent at a resort or a short sightseeing excursion to a neighboring country. Knowing a foreign language can bring you lots of insights on how to travel enjoyably.
You can save a lot if you book tickets and hotels yourself on foreign sites, bypassing intermediaries. You can understand and communicate with the natives. Learn many new and exciting things from living people, and not just listen to the memorized speeches of tour guides.
The English will come to the rescue more than once. Speaking a foreign language can change your life when you meet the person you fall in love with!
A New Language Can Improve the Quality of Your Scientific Papers
It is impossible to achieve success in any field without quality development and constant practice. Learning a foreign language can help you with your scientific career to become a graduate, associate professor, or professor.
Most of the relevant articles, books, and developments appear in print in English. Researchers and those deepening their knowledge in any particular discipline must stay abreast of development processes to minimize costs and stop repeating the previous scientists.
Being a researcher means reading and searching for information in a foreign language. Besides, you need to have excellent conversational skills, think about that!
It Can Boost Your Career
The opportunity for career growth or employment in a prestigious company is one of the most powerful incentives. You can find work in small local companies only if you can not speak a foreign language. You need to have the maximum advantage over your competitors and speak the languages they don’t if you dream of a position in a large firm.
One of these advantages may be knowledge of English because it is the language of business communication and international communications. The number of companies with foreign investments is growing every year all over the world.
The companies that work with foreign clients or suppliers develop better and earn more money. You will need it to understand a client, communicate with foreign partners, arrange presentations, or hold business negotiations.
Photo by Saulo Mohana on Unsplash
Learning a New Language Can Help You Find More Friends
Speaking a foreign language fluently, you will meet and communicate with lots of people. It is much more interesting to talk to your new acquaintances and stop using gestures. We hand-picked some places where you can meet your new foreign friends.
Couchsurfing
Couchsurfing is the service for free staying overnight stay while traveling. The main motive here is to communicate with foreigners, get to know their culture better, and exchange experiences. You can also host guests if you don’t like to travel. You have to register there, post information about yourself, and check the messages.
There are many channels on social media where you can find friends for language practice, for example, on Facebook. Right there the language you speak and what you want to improve, and choose the person to communicate with. There are native speakers of English, Japanese, and even Mandarin there.
italki
iTalki is the social media for communication in foreign languages. Register, choose a language, and start communicating immediately.
Italki works for a small fee; however, the latter offers communication and lessons from a native. There you can register and start teaching foreigners your language, and earn some money.
WeChat is a combination of a marketplace and social media where you can find a friend to talk to. It is a Chinese platform where you can look for people with the same interests: gardening, cryptocurrency, or something else. All you have to do is shake your phone, and the people in the established radius get mentioned.
It is a hot platform for paying your bill, in case you live in China. Switching from learning English to learning Chinese is easier here too. There is an in-built translator and voice-over service in WeChat. These can help with voice messages and content creation.
New Language Can Help You With Relocation
Some people want to live in warm countries but don’t relocate because they can’t speak the language. Learning it can make your dream come true and move abroad. Speaking the foreign country’s language, you will not have any problem with the basics like accommodation and buying products.
Knowing the language, you can order the products with delivery and not have a problem with that. You will cope with the daily routine better. There are also situations when you will have to speak to the foreigner or help the others in translating the documents or helping with them.
Allocation of foreign language knowledge is quite broad when you live abroad, so learning English or Spanish will do.
Conclusion
Learning a new language is a small but significant step in changing your life for the better. We know that it is hard to start, but the results might be impressive and satisfying if you do.
Imagine how deeply all the things mentioned above can change your life. So, stop waiting for another chance to improve your life, grab this chance and start learning a new language. You’ll see the difference in the quality of your life!
Who Is The Author?
Ryan Pell
Ryan Pell is a passionate writer who likes sharing his thoughts and experience with the readers. Currently, he works as a digital marketing specialist; you can check here. He likes everything related to traveling and new countries.
