There are numerous cultural advantages to learning a foreign language. I can only list a few here, but I’ve tried to highlight the major ones.

• Learning a foreign language helps you to get insight into the culture associated with that language. Once you understand the language, that opens up a whole world of ways to access information about the culture and to learn how people discuss a variety of different topics. You can read books, magazines, and newspapers as well as watch news reports, television programs, and films. Most importantly, however, is that learning a foreign language allows you to converse with people in their native tongue, which will provide you with a much deeper understanding of their world.
• Secondly, learning a foreign language gives you a better chance of survival in the area where that language is primary. You can read the signs and learn if there are dangers like slippery floors, wet paint, high voltage, strong undertow, or vicious dogs. You can understand when someone gives you important information such as: don’t go to this area at night alone, the grocery store will be closed between noon and four pm, or the bus will be delayed for twenty minutes. You could end up stranded, hungry, or in trouble if you don’t have an understanding of the language.
• Learning a foreign language will also enable you to perceive the varied etiquettes of that country and its people. These could include basic manners and be essential to your success in that country.
• A language gives you a competitive advantage. It opens new venues for employment as well as education. Many employers are looking for people who can speak different languages so that their company is appealing to people all over the world! It also makes it easy for you to travel to many places.
• A language additionally offers you a short summary concerning cultural nuances of such things as relationships (marriage and family), clothing, and food. Having an understanding of the way things are typically done will increase your comfort level and help you assimilate into society more easily.

So learning a foreign language offers access to a different culture. Learning a brand new culture is like having the ability to relate and participate in a totally different world.

Photo by Quinn Dombrowski / CC-BY

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