January 2023
How many of us pledge to give something up for our New Year’s Resolution?
Personally, I have always found that the most fulfilling and exciting years are those when I have promised to add something to my plate instead. This might mean adding to my routine or skill set, or quite literally to my plate… (here’s looking at you, broccoli!)
At a time when inboxes and news feeds are teeming with treats to ditch and habits to scrap, here are my top 5 reasons to make language learning your gift to yourself this year:
1. Languages train your brain
"Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom."
Roger Bacon - English Philosopher
Learning a language stimulates parts of the brain that would otherwise go unused after childhood. As an adult it can be incredibly fulfilling to take out a notebook and enjoy the process of learning after years out of the classroom, but the cognitive benefits of language study go far beyond the purely academic.
In most modern workplaces, the drive to get things right the first time, every time, means that grit and resilience can be difficult qualities to develop. It is fair to say that you never truly ‘complete’ any language (including your own!) and so in learning a language we exercise resilience, and train our brain to value progress over perfection. Developing this kind of mindset has far-reaching benefits for most individuals, offering fresh insights everywhere from the boardroom, to the gym!
2. Languages teach you: 'Yes, you can!'
"Language is not a genetic gift, it is a social gift.”
Frank Smith - Canadian Psycholinguist
As a classroom teacher of modern foreign languages, I found it heartbreaking to hear older learners say: ‘I loved German/French, but I just don’t have a language brain’. Of course, we all excel in different areas, and some learners will find foreign languages more intuitive than others, but quite a lot of research proves that we are all born with the capability to learn new languages!
In our modern world it can be difficult to keep working at things which aren’t providing quick and easy results, but the rewards of language learning are worth the graft. Imagine spending years wishing that you could have ‘cracked’ German at school, before committing to a year’s study and realising you had it in you all along! You’ll soon find yourself wondering what else might be within your grasp… just as soon as you’ve finished your first Christmas market mulled wine!
3. Languages foster empathy and communicative skills
"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart."
Nelson Mandela - Former President of South Africa
How often do we, as adults, get to consider why one word might be more appealing, or less rude or more beautiful than another? Unless your career requires you to work at the word level, it is highly likely that you left these kinds of analyses behind at school. Learning a foreign language gives us a chance to return to exercises in communication, and to see how the words we use can alter our world view, even between close continental neighbours!
There are dozens of ‘rabbit hole’ moments which come with learning a new foreign language, but beginning to really see the world through the eyes of foreign language speakers has been one of the most fulfilling for me.
4. Languages open doors
"One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way."
Frank Smith - Canadian Psycholinguist
There is something about a language on a CV that gets employers thinking. Perhaps you are able to boast fluency and find yourself heading up a new international venture, or prove indispensable on a new overseas trade show stand.
Even the notion that you have, at some point, embraced learning a language, suggests a confident and ambitious individual, committed to their own improvement and capable of a global mindset. Not a bad back-story for a line or two on a CV!
5. A second language gives you a second home
"To have another language is to possess a second soul."
Charlemagne - First Holy Roman Emperor
Our world is becoming simultaneously bigger and smaller. We now have access to news, images and media which would have been outside of our imagination just decades ago. Whilst this can be wonderful on a global scale, to an individual it can be a little overwhelming, and difficult to conceptualise.
Dedicating time, study and interest to another language provides a sense of focus. Through my study of German, I was able to buy train tickets to see historic monuments in Berlin with my own eyes, and to enjoy an evening at the opera in Dresden, but I was also able to attend cosy dinner parties with the families of new German friends. As my understanding of the language deepened I found myself laughing at the right time when listening to jokes, and really understanding the unbridled warmth and joy which makes Christmas in Germany an international export. After a year on German soil I found flights home to the UK as confusing as they were exciting, and upon my return I realised that I had accidentally succeeded in making myself a home in another culture.
At a time where we can see anything in the world with the click of a mouse, learning a language enables us to make a deeper connection with the world outside our own.
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