The Benefits of Learning Another Language

Language learning and travelling go perfectly hand-in-hand

There are so many benefits to learning other languages in addition to your first/native language, and a huge amount of information has been written about the topic. More about those sources later. First, true to my approach, I’m going to start with my own personal experience, then open things up to yours.

Body and Brain Workouts

OK. So most of us have experienced the physical benefits of exercise – from a walk around the block to a full-blown workout – and the ‘high’ that often comes from a good exercise session: relaxed but energised. When I learn languages, I get what I can only describe in lay terms as a ‘brain buzz’. The equivalent mental high of a great physical workout. What is it? How can I describe it? It’s a bit nebulous, but the closest I can come before referring to further expert sources on the topic is this: A deep sense of heightened awareness which is very pleasant and satisfying to experience.

First, I think us humans get joy out of learning in general. We are hard-wired not only to learn, but also to enjoy the process. Just look at children and how fascinated they are with the world around them. Like sponges, seizing on and soaking up every experience and investigating every aspect of it. Ok, so we are not children any more, but as adults most of us have lost at least some of that initial enthusiasm to discover the world around us, as we strive to maintain jobs, families, finances, health and so on. But it’s still there, that eagerness to discover, as any of us who have been able to devote ourselves to further study will know – especially when this is a choice (rather than an externally imposed requirement such as needing a certain qualification in order to progress in a certain job, for example).

Travelling and Language Learning: Perfect Partners

So I was looking at how to briefly summarise my main experiences of the benefits of language learning, when I re-read the post The Benefits of Travelling and realised they were essentially the same. Which is why language learning and travelling go perfectly hand-in-hand. There are many general skills gained through travelling – time management, communication, independence and so on. And people who travel also know that many other aspects of their lives improve as a result. The same is true when we learn another language: there are a host of cognitive/mental, socio-cultural and other benefits. So here’s a few from my list:

1 – An increased sense of confidence, self-esteem and self-awareness

When you learn something and can put to use what you’ve learned, it’s a sure path to feeling self-assured and self-reliant. Imagine for example that you’ve learned an outdoor skill such as abseiling, and the subsequent self-reliance and confidence you get from this. Now imagine being able to talk about it in another language (including while doing it) and have native speakers understand you. Bang! A double whammy of confidence from having the skill topped with the satisfaction of using that skill in another language. The combination is powerful.

2 – Increased appreciation and respect of people and their cultures (and languages)

One of the key goals of TTW is to contribute to world peace through the sharing of languages. Look, when you know even some of the language and culture of another group of people, it just gets harder to see yourself as separate from them. I’ve seen people with xenophobic tendencies open themselves up and become more tolerant (to varying degrees) of others, by learning another language, especially in the context of travelling. Take a look at two great posts:

World Peace – one language at a time

3 – Appreciation of one’s own language

This is one of my favourite benefits of further language study. Even though I have studied linguistics and English extensively, the appreciation of my own language has increased steadily over time, through comparison with the grammatical and meaning systems, cultural settings, of other languages. Not that any language does things better, rather differently. Sure, there are important historical, political and economic reasons that have led to English becoming the word’s lingua franca. But no language can become so important, unless it has some outstanding and special characteristics for its phenomenal growth and popularity.

Now, I don’t consider English to be ‘better than’ any other language in the world. But I do love how English is open to borrowing words from a host of other languages. So many words we use everyday have come to us after the emergence of modern English. Some of my favourites: jungle (from Hindi), wanderlust (German) and karaoke (Japanese).

Same-same but Different

Even prior to the modern English period, the influence of French and Latin has left the language with a huge vocabulary, consisting largely of pairs of synonyms (words with similar meanings), a Germanic one and a Latinate (or Greek) one, where the usage of one or the other is dictated by the requirements of the context of communication, notably the level of formality. More specifically, we tend to use words descended from Old English in everyday informal contexts, whereas the equivalent word from French (since 1066 when the English lost and the French won) is mostly used in formal, academic and scientific areas. Talk about / discuss, go up / increase, buy / purchase, find / discover, and on and on and on.

As a particular area of everyday vocabulary, every student studying English as an additional language is familiar with that Germanic part of English so necessary to everyday interactions with native speakers, but which are often challenging to learn: phrasal verbs. You gotta love phrasal verbs. So diverse, so complex, so full of idiomatic meanings and usages. Yet, when we need to, we switch to the more formal Latinate (and indeed Greek) equivalent, almost without a second thought. Hey, let’s talk about what we’re gonna do tonight with friends vs shall we discuss our plans for this evening’s meal with colleagues at a formal business context. Beautiful. Check out this post by Clark and Miller.

(Oh and by the way: many travellers would be familiar with that common catch phrase used widely in SE Asia – “Same-same, but different”. Right now on Lombok (July 2019) a new one seems to be emerging: “Never try, never know”)

4 – Some further benefits

Ok, here is a summary of what most other blogs say about the benefits of language learning:

Contributes to cognitive and literacy development
Improves memory
Delays onset of dementia (The idea of the brain gym – ‘use it or lose it’ applies to both body and mind)
Increases ability to multi-task
Develops performance in other academic areas
Expands social and networking skills
Enhances employment and career prospects

You might also want to take a look at some of these:

Why learn languages (Lead With Languages)
Top 10 benefits of learning a foreign language (Eton Institute)
9 big advantages of learning a foreign language (Fluent U)

Final Thoughts

So over to you now. What do you think? Have you learned another language, and if so, what have been the benefits for you? Or would you like to start – or continue – learning another language? If yes, which one(s) and why? What do you think might be the pay-off for you?

Please let us know by leaving a comment

So my final question – if you have yet to make the life-changing leap to multilingualism – is this: what are you waiting for? Talk the World would be privileged to help you begin your journey, or continue it if you want to learn more. Remember…..

…..Never try, Never Know

Check out Pimsleur language learning programs here