One of the best ways to maximize your free time is to learn a new skill. Most of the successful people are always keen to learn something new every day. In today’s increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, learning a new language is a vital skill. Bilingualism is now one of the useful real-world skills, it gives you the opportunity to engage with the world in a more immediate and meaningful way.  When you can speak to people in their own language you deepen connections and understanding. A new language sets you up for success in nearly every aspect of your life.

Check out these 10 reasons why you should learn a new language:

Improves your memory

The more you use your brain to learn new skills, the more your brain’s functions work. Research has shown that knowledge of more than one language is associated with better reasoning, problem-solving skills and creativity. A new language pushes your brain to get familiar with new grammar, vocabulary rules and use of new words in contextual situations.  It also helps you deal with unknown and unfamiliar situations.

Gives You More Social and Global Skills

A new language soaks you into an entirely new culture and worldview which opens you up to be open-minded, understanding, tolerant and respectful. We are all cultural beings who are products of our own environments. By seeing the world from a different perspective and understanding where you and others come from, it becomes easy to collaborate with others around the world to address both local and global issues.

Helps you better understand your own language and culture

Learning a foreign language helps you become much more conscious of not only cultural customs, but of the grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation patterns of your first language. You will be able to draw connections and comparisons between your culture and and that of the new language, giving you the opportunity to understand where you come from and how it has affected your personality.

Helps you form meaningful friendships

A new language opens up your range of potential acquaintances and friends. Through language, we are able to express our feelings and desires, connect and form meaningful relationships with other people around us. A new language acts as a common denominator when you meet native speakers and also makes you feel a global sense of community.

Travel becomes cheaper and easier when you learn a foreign language

Learning the basics of the local language can help you become a more confident traveller. It becomes easy to navigate around places in a foreign country turning it into a fun and memorable experience. The best way to avoid tourist traps is to learn some of the local language for use in reading signs or asking directions, ordering food in a restaurant, checking into a hotel, negotiating for better prices at a market and so on.  You don’t have to be fluent; you just need enough to get by.

Provides Broader Access to Education and Information

Another language could help you earn a degree in another country. You do not have to start by enrolling in language classes for you to be able to get admitted for your course. It also helps you enjoy studying abroad as you interact with other speakers of the same language than when you only know one language. Those who speak different languages are able to directly access news and perspectives from the parts of the world where those languages are predominant.

Provides Professional and Career Advantages

A second language not only improves your employment prospects but can also drastically change your career. More companies are continuously doing business internationally thus, they are advertising for positions that favour those who have knowledge of more than one language. This happens because as they continue to trade and create relationships internationally, employees are often asked to travel for work, enhance these relationships or be relocated abroad. Generally, being able to communicate in other languages makes you much more valuable to an employer. In an increasingly competitive job market, why not give yourself every possible edge?

You can help preserve lesser-known languages

Studying a lesser-known language can help promote the preservation of minority languages and protect the cultural knowledge that comes along with them. When a language disappears, so does its culture and the body of knowledge it has accumulated. People around the world have gathered together to try to keep minority languages alive with movies, books and study groups. Learning and communicating using these endangered languages helps keep them alive.

TV shows and movies are becoming more and more multilingual.

Streaming services like Netflix are investing more in entertainment that is multilingual and it is paying off! Some of the best television shows of the past few years have been in other languages apart from English. Though the subtitles have been helpful, they are not always perfect. An understanding of the original language works best.

10. It’s fun!

There’s a joy that comes from being able to speak to others in their native language.  Part of

the fun of learning a foreign language is discovering differences in how people look at the

world. It’s also fun to discover words in a foreign language that don’t exist in your native

tongue. Mastering new accents and sounds is just plain sexy.

Conclusion

By learning new skills, you become a better person and increase career opportunities. Studying a new language helps you break barriers and connects you with other people on a deeper level of mutual understanding. A shared understanding with speakers of a language opens a series of does leading to a more interesting and satisfying personal and professional life. You are never too old to learn a language. Join a class today!