subject: Why learn a new language ? [print this page] Here is a list of the things you may gain thanks to language learning :
Access to a foreign culture : That is one of the main reason to learn a language. Why travel or even live in a foreign country if it is to stay with people that have the same nationality as ours ? That's something you can do at home. Why not go in the outside, meet interesting people, try delicious food and get access to little known cultural aspects of a foreign country ?
Professional reasons : Knowing a foreign language can really help you in your job search, or in your current job. It broadens your horizon, getting you jobs that you wouldn't get without that language, and can make you the man of the situation for business with foreign companies. In the other way around, it can get you a job in a foreign country, as a specialist of YOUR native language. That's what got me a proofreader job here in Japan, thanks to my knowledge in French, English and German.
Growth as a human being : Getting in contact with other languages will also make you discover new ways of thinking. Cultural differences exist between two or more languages, and they will help you find out more about yourself, as you learn about others. After traveling or living in a foreign country, you may find out that your fellow countrymen are pretty short-sighted.
Access to treasures of art and literature : If you like art, literature and/or movies, learning a foreign language will be the magic key that opens a lot of cultural doors. You may have access to translations of foreign works (books and movies mainly), but when you know another language, you may find out that these translations are incorrect or incomplete, leaving out a lot of cultural nuances. Reading a book or watching a movie in a foreign language is so enriching in so many ways that I think it is really a waste not to do so. You will of course need a good level of mastery to do so, but not as high as you may think. Just give it a try ! You can always turn the subtitles on/look at the dictionary if you get lost.
And many other things ! : Counting all the potential benefits of language learning would take me days, so I just went and tried to list the most important ones. There's a lot of small things that could just make your day, like making a foreign friend, impressing your friends by ordering food in an exotic restaurant in the waiter's language, or just saying I love you to the girl you love.
