Question: Why is important to learn a foreign language? Respo | Ozodbek Botiraliyev
Question: Why is important to learn a foreign language?
Response: ONLY A FEW years ago, I had the impression that people who spoke English were special. Their presence would illuminate my face with a big smile, making my heart skip a beat in part admiration and part jealousy. It wasn't just the language that made them shine per se - it was everything from their manners and lifestyle to their way of thinking.
But why would speaking English, or for that matter any other foreign language, make a person so different, and why learn a new language at all?
As time went on, I would eventually master English myself. That clarified some things. For example, the benefits of learning a foreign language, I found out, weren't just restricted to the end result, but the process itself was extremely beneficial too. The simplest spin-off to me (and there are many others) was having to read a lot. We did hours of reading daily, just to improve our grammar, vocabulary, and the like. Naturally, that would build up knowledge, in addition to expanding our thinking.
The by-products are many, but once you gain fluency, there's a whole new level.
In the information age we are living, it just doesn't seem enough to know only one language. Take internet and its content. More than half of it is actually in English. Not just that, but English is also the language of global scientific community.
The same could be said for many other languages as well. In many fields, acquiring a second language is anywhere between strongly encouraged to absolutely necessary, especially in the context of Central Asia. For example, it is a must for me to know Arabic, since my major is Islamic Studies.
It's clear, therefore, that learning multiple languages can greatly boost your chances for success in any career. For fields such as my own, it is an essential prerequisite. Keeping up with the latest research, studying at top-ranking universities, or even simply reading an article online, can all become a luxury that an average monolingual mind cannot access.
As far as tangible benefits are concerned, they are numerous, but we'll have to gloss over just a few more of them. Better employability is definitely worth a mention. Fluency in several languages adorns our CV like nothing else. At times of having to choose between job applicants, it can be, and often is, the tiebreaker.
Perhaps the last considerable reason to take up a new language is improved mental capacity. There is such an overwhelming body of research that suggests this - it is pretty much a given. Our brain is a muscle, and like any other muscle, exercising it helps to build new cells.
Okay, back to my story.
Acquiring a second language, or a even third, probably won't make you special any longer - at least not here in Tashkent. It's just too common these days. That's still the threshold for "above average", however. Anyone who is limiting themselves to just their native tongue will miss out intellectually, on top of cutting their odds for financial success.
Author: @ozodbek_SK
