Check out these 6 reasons why you should learn a new language:
1) Expose Yourself (to culture, you pervert)
Yes, listening to Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” is addicting. But it’s time to branch out and explore other musical artists. Spice up your playlist with Serge Gainsbourg, MC Solaar, Wyclef Jean and more foreign language artists. Instead of a new Shailene Woodley movie, consider netflixing Pan’s Labyrinth,* The Class* or another fantastic foreign language flick that will make you look way cooler in front of your roommates.
2) Career Opportunities
Employees want people who speak more than one language. CNN even reported that the hottest job skill is speaking a foreign language. If you are looking for the fastest way to make yourself more marketable in a Linked-in search, tack on Spanish, French or Chinese to your resume. Fluency in foreign languages can also be the token to getting your boss to let you take an international business trip.
3) Brain Power
Keep your mind active. People who learn a new language as an adult and push themselves to do more cognitive thinking are less likely to have brain-related health problems later in life including Alzheimer’s. Take advantage of your free time by picking up a relevant skill that will actually improve your health and slow brain aging, according to the BBC.
4) Improve Your English
Knowing another language helps you understand the various tenses, prepositions and other parts of speech we often take for granted. You can find more poetic ways to convey your thoughts, improve your vocabulary, and write more precise creative sentences in English when you get to thinking about how other languages are structured. Use another language as a measuring stick and basis of comparison for your own tongue.
5) Impress the Hottie
In big cities especially, competition is fierce for dating. Want to hit on the sexy French bartender at your local? Try impressing her with an opening line that shows your knowledge of her language. Got a date next week? Take him to Le Barricou instead of Olive Garden and show off your improved menu reading abilities. You don’t have to be fluent to sound sexy with a foreign drawl.
6) Travel Better
In many countries, just attempting to say “hello, how are you?” in the native tongue can make a shopkeeper immediately flip from slimy tourist trap mode to welcoming host. In Istanbul for example, staffer Mandy found that saying hello in very limited Turkish would immediately flip on a smile at the marketplace. Shopkeepers would drop their business mode and ask her to stay and drink tea, delighted that she was trying to learn the language. Spanish-speaking countries are also known for being extremely welcoming when you try to speak the native tongue. Your pronunciation and vocabulary do not need to be perfect for people to appreciate your attempts to communicate with locals and you not assuming that everyone else speaks English.
So, survey says? Learning a new language is an absolute must. Consider a fun, casual group class at Fluent City where you can pick from French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian or Hebrew. We promise, it will help you in more ways than one.