Being a multilingual person has many surprising benefits. It helps you appreciate cultures and experience more that people have to offer when you can speak their dialect. Learning another language, whether it is from a young age or picking one up later in life is always a good educational goal to have.
Why exactly is it so important to know more languages? Some think it is because it is good to be a citizen of the world or at least be able to speak like one. Some think it is because it helps the brain. The truth is that those are both correct, but there is so much more to it. Here are 6 benefits of knowing more than one language.
1. Makes Travelling Easier
Probably the first thing you imagine when being multilingual is how easy it is to travel. The benefits of knowing a second language for traveling are numerous, and it allows for a much more engaging time in another place. Being able to communicate effectively helps you acclimate to your new surroundings better and the locals will appreciate the fact that there is no language barrier, especially if you have questions.
2. Provides Tutoring Opportunities
Knowing more than one language is not just good for getting around a new place, it can help open up new career opportunities. Even if you have a full-time job but want to make some money on the side, you should consider using your second language as a means to make money tutoring. Tutoring people in learning a new language can provide you with some extra spending money for just a few hours of work a week. It is so simple you can do it over video chat as well.
It is, however, advisable to get a certification to make sure that you are providing quality tutoring services. Luckily, you can now easily get an online French language certificate or a Spanish language certification with just a few clicks. These languages are some of the most popular ones used by people all over the world, so you can be sure that there will be students interested in learning them. Certification will also help you to get the trust of your clients and thus increase the number of people who would like to learn from you.
3. Allows for Working Abroad
In a similar fashion as the second benefit, your opportunities for your job can improve as well. If you learn a highly sought after language, you can be sent abroad to do important work. Having the skill of knowing multiple languages makes you a valuable asset for a company and can allow you to work some pretty interesting jobs. This is especially useful for business, marketing, and finance as they are doing deals international all the time. Being educated and fluent in another language may allow you to travel for your work to some cool locales.
4. Helps Stimulate the Brain
Education is not just about getting good grades and passing classes. Education is about knowledge, and knowledge comes at any time, so learning a new language is good for the health of your brain. It has been shown that people who knew multiple languages were generally higher thinking so the benefit to the stimulation of your mind is important for living a long and healthy life. Not only that but improving your knowledge and learning a language is good for applying knowledge in real-world settings to have success, as evidenced by many of the potential benefits that are listed here. You can check Just Learn to get started.
5. Provide Assistance for Tourists
If you are on the opposite end of the travel dilemma and someone is struggling to find their way around in your area, you can help them with your knowledge of a language. Helping tourists find their destinations and give them some relief by speaking in their dialect will give them a good impression of your local community and encourage them to come back and visit. Helping those in need, like tourists, can turn you into a more well-rounded, kind-hearted person.
6. Makes Learning More Languages Easier
Once you start to learn a new language, your brain starts rewiring itself to understand more letters, grammatical rules, and other elements of speech and written language. There are plenty of languages that are very familiar with origin and rules so learning one language could open the door to learning even more. French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese are well known for the incredibly similar characteristics, which would allow you to diagnose and understand similar European languages better. Even tougher languages like South Korean or Russian could help your brain deduce how to comprehend more languages. All in all, it could be a big stepping stone to learning more by starting with one language.
Being a well-learned person does not always come from the classroom and sometimes knowledge is meant to be a more abstract concept. The best way to understand this is by learning new languages. New languages help you apply what you have learned for things like travel and work, and they help you grow as a person. Picking a language and dedicating time each day to learn it more and more could end up providing one of those 6 possible benefits for you.