If you ever want to help expand your world in a more creative and useful way, I strongly recommend that you learn a new language. Being bilingual or multi-lingual is a gift that you should take advantage of. I can only say positive things about learning more languages. If your family speaks a language other than English at home, make sure to become stronger in that language. Your brain is like a muscle that must be trained to get stronger and better.
I seriously believe that you can't go wrong with learning a new language. Here are my top seven reasons why you should learn a new language:
1. People with accents are hot! And yes, you do have an accent...and most likely, it's a sexy one. It may not be to you but it will be for other people. I'm drawn to people with accents. It makes me listen to them more attentively and pay attention to the way they pronounce the words. The next thing I know, my inner voice has an accent too! It only works when I'm speaking to the person with the accent though. LOL!
2. It helps expands your social network--Language is not only the most important form of communication, but it also unites people together. If you're sitting in a room full of strangers and they ask you to partner up with someone, most likely, you will be drawn to people who speak your own native language. I personally love to travel and one of my favorite games I play is to find people who speak Spanish. I'm drawn to them. I was in Morocco over a year ago, and I couldn't help but overhear a conversation that a young man was having with an older gentleman-- all in Spanish! He didn't look Spaniard and I spent majority of the time, trying to guess where the guy was from. The curiosity was getting to me so I asked and found out that his mom was from Spain and his dad was Moroccan. And he was gorgeous!
3. Better job opportunities--Why would a company hire two people when they can hire one person for speaking two languages or more? Speaking a different language gives you the advantage over someone who only speaks one. It may bring you better job and career opportunities to travel, get promoted, get a raise, or start your own company.
4. Learn about other cultures-- When learning a new language, you can't help but learn about other cultures in the process. It's always fun to learn about different holidays, traditions, customs from places near and far away.
5. You can learn how to swear in other languages--You know, for defense purposes only.
6. You gain independence from knowing another language-- This is super helpful when you travel abroad. Knowing the language of the place you are visiting makes you less of a target to get taken advantage of by taxis, or at their marketplaces. Learn to haggle prices when you're shopping or prevent from being over charged for a service, transportation, or hotel stay.
7. You're way smarter--Need I mention that people who speak different languages are way smarter than people who only speak one? Why? Because a person who speaks a different language is most likely able to think, problem-solve, use cognitive skills in their native tongue to see if it checks out. Plus, bilinguals and multi-linguals score higher on standardized tests than their monolingual counterparts.
I absolutely love learning new languages. I was raised in a Spanish speaking household and when I started my elementary school years, I learned my native language first. Learning to read and write in Spanish was great and I enjoyed it as a kid. When I entered high school, I wanted to continue learning Spanish to help improve my native tongue but my high school counselor encouraged me to learn French instead. I took it and for three years, I excelled in French. Learning French helped me become a better Spanish speaker since they are extremely similar. At one point, by the time my friends and I were taking French 3 in high school, we were able to express ourselves very well in three languages: English, Spanish, and French, forming what we called, "Franglish." Excusez-moi, est-ce que tu me puedes pasar el eraser, please?
Now that I'm older, I still enjoy learning new languages. For the past year or so, I decided to learn Arabic to help expand my world. And also to impress my boyfriend. I've been blessed with an amazing Arabic professor who has not only made learning this difficult language less painful, but he has helped the non-Arabic speaking students (such as myself) understand the Arab world a little better. Just like the "Latin" American countries, we are all different in our traditions, tastes in food and music, and have different cultures and customs. We are all not "Mexican" or one-size fits all. Same thing goes for the Arabs. They are all different and their Arabic language and expressions change by the region they are in.
Learning French, Spanish, and now Arabic, has helped me connect with others and help better understand their world and background. It has made me be more open minded and less afraid of what is out there. It actually makes me more curious to learn more and to expand my knowledge of different cultures.
I would love to become more fluent in Arabic and French in the future. And the best part of living in today's world is that you can learn a new language from the comfort of your own home right on your computer.
Check out these sites if you want to learn different languages:
Duolingo --I absolutely love this site! You learn new languages right from your computer or smartphone. The lessons are presented to you in small chunks where you will hear the words, type the words, or match the words. It's repetitive and you can't advance until you know enough words. Check it out: www.duolingo.com. I mostly use it when I'm waiting in line or when I'm trying to pass the time. Why be bored when you can use the time to learn something new?
Speak7-- It is a website where you get to learn 7 languages: Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, German, and Japanese, found here: http://speak7.com/.
Check out this guy's website for awesome resources here: http://www.fluentin3months.com/free-links/. It provides over 40 Free online resources to check out in learning new languages.
Other places to try out are:
Good luck, bon chance and buena suerte,
Mayra :)
I seriously believe that you can't go wrong with learning a new language. Here are my top seven reasons why you should learn a new language:
1. People with accents are hot! And yes, you do have an accent...and most likely, it's a sexy one. It may not be to you but it will be for other people. I'm drawn to people with accents. It makes me listen to them more attentively and pay attention to the way they pronounce the words. The next thing I know, my inner voice has an accent too! It only works when I'm speaking to the person with the accent though. LOL!
2. It helps expands your social network--Language is not only the most important form of communication, but it also unites people together. If you're sitting in a room full of strangers and they ask you to partner up with someone, most likely, you will be drawn to people who speak your own native language. I personally love to travel and one of my favorite games I play is to find people who speak Spanish. I'm drawn to them. I was in Morocco over a year ago, and I couldn't help but overhear a conversation that a young man was having with an older gentleman-- all in Spanish! He didn't look Spaniard and I spent majority of the time, trying to guess where the guy was from. The curiosity was getting to me so I asked and found out that his mom was from Spain and his dad was Moroccan. And he was gorgeous!
3. Better job opportunities--Why would a company hire two people when they can hire one person for speaking two languages or more? Speaking a different language gives you the advantage over someone who only speaks one. It may bring you better job and career opportunities to travel, get promoted, get a raise, or start your own company.
4. Learn about other cultures-- When learning a new language, you can't help but learn about other cultures in the process. It's always fun to learn about different holidays, traditions, customs from places near and far away.
5. You can learn how to swear in other languages--You know, for defense purposes only.
6. You gain independence from knowing another language-- This is super helpful when you travel abroad. Knowing the language of the place you are visiting makes you less of a target to get taken advantage of by taxis, or at their marketplaces. Learn to haggle prices when you're shopping or prevent from being over charged for a service, transportation, or hotel stay.
7. You're way smarter--Need I mention that people who speak different languages are way smarter than people who only speak one? Why? Because a person who speaks a different language is most likely able to think, problem-solve, use cognitive skills in their native tongue to see if it checks out. Plus, bilinguals and multi-linguals score higher on standardized tests than their monolingual counterparts.
I absolutely love learning new languages. I was raised in a Spanish speaking household and when I started my elementary school years, I learned my native language first. Learning to read and write in Spanish was great and I enjoyed it as a kid. When I entered high school, I wanted to continue learning Spanish to help improve my native tongue but my high school counselor encouraged me to learn French instead. I took it and for three years, I excelled in French. Learning French helped me become a better Spanish speaker since they are extremely similar. At one point, by the time my friends and I were taking French 3 in high school, we were able to express ourselves very well in three languages: English, Spanish, and French, forming what we called, "Franglish." Excusez-moi, est-ce que tu me puedes pasar el eraser, please?
Now that I'm older, I still enjoy learning new languages. For the past year or so, I decided to learn Arabic to help expand my world. And also to impress my boyfriend. I've been blessed with an amazing Arabic professor who has not only made learning this difficult language less painful, but he has helped the non-Arabic speaking students (such as myself) understand the Arab world a little better. Just like the "Latin" American countries, we are all different in our traditions, tastes in food and music, and have different cultures and customs. We are all not "Mexican" or one-size fits all. Same thing goes for the Arabs. They are all different and their Arabic language and expressions change by the region they are in.
Learning French, Spanish, and now Arabic, has helped me connect with others and help better understand their world and background. It has made me be more open minded and less afraid of what is out there. It actually makes me more curious to learn more and to expand my knowledge of different cultures.
I would love to become more fluent in Arabic and French in the future. And the best part of living in today's world is that you can learn a new language from the comfort of your own home right on your computer.
Check out these sites if you want to learn different languages:
Duolingo --I absolutely love this site! You learn new languages right from your computer or smartphone. The lessons are presented to you in small chunks where you will hear the words, type the words, or match the words. It's repetitive and you can't advance until you know enough words. Check it out: www.duolingo.com. I mostly use it when I'm waiting in line or when I'm trying to pass the time. Why be bored when you can use the time to learn something new?
Speak7-- It is a website where you get to learn 7 languages: Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, German, and Japanese, found here: http://speak7.com/.
Check out this guy's website for awesome resources here: http://www.fluentin3months.com/free-links/. It provides over 40 Free online resources to check out in learning new languages.
Other places to try out are:
- Youtube videos
- Visit your Public Library and check out children's books on how to learn a new language.
- Check out your Community College for actual classroom courses and structure (for those who are more traditional learners)
- Join a language learning group from Meetup and interact with native speakers
- Watch your favorite DVDs but in the French or Spanish setting. Or add the subtitles in a different language. You'd be surprise how funny your movies can be in a different language. I watched Bridesmaids one day all in Italian and it was still funny!
- Listen to the radio or watch television in the language you want to learn and say out loud the words you actually know or sound familiar to the ones in English.
Good luck, bon chance and buena suerte,
Mayra :)
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