Ever since I was a little girl people told me I should learn another language besides my Spanish native language. Most of the arguments were based on the fact that it could bring me more opportunities for work, education, and even social skills I was not aware of. So that’s what I did and nowadays I fluently speak English, French and Italian, but the big question here is, is it true that learning languages helped me in any way?
Of course, not only for the main purposes we already talked about, but it also helped me discover things beyond what I knew. For example, I’ve had the opportunity of getting to know Canadian, French and Italian people who taught me things about their culture I didn’t even know could exist. They helped me set the achievable goal of traveling around the world, knowing new cultures, and even thinking about the idea of staying in another country for a while.
Furthermore, I discovered a whole new world thanks to the internet, I started watching videos in English about sociology, psychology, and even about the career I’m currently studying which is political sciences. Although French is harder than English, I’ve managed to understand most of the videos talking about these topics and last but not least, Italian made me fall in love with Italy, the food, the people and all the history that can be found just in their language is amazing.
On the other hand, learning another language it’s not an easy task. People often come to me just to congratulate me on being a polyglot, however, they don’t usually notice all the dedication and hard work that It takes. I’m not saying it’s impossible to speak another language, what I want to emphasize is the fact that if you want to do this you should know that it takes time, dedication, determination, persistence, etc, just like any other skill. Most people quit learning the language because they get stuck on something, some others make fun of them and they expect to learn the whole language in less than a year or so.
My advice to anyone who decides to learn a new language is to be patient. Once you learn it you can do unimaginable activities, travel all around the world, meet new people and cultures, and discover a world you have never imagined before. Currently, I’m an English teacher and I would never regret every single second I spent learning all the languages I know, I hope people out there get to understand the importance of this skill and try it!
