Change your life; learn a language

By Anna Hedgpeth

Reporter

Many students take their two language credits in high school and quit, but learning a second language gives a person an edge in the workforce, allows them to interact with more people, and makes them smarter.

For a long time, scsientists believed children who grew up being exposed to two languages would be negatively affected. Beginning in the 1960s, studies by Ellen Bialystok, a professor at York University, showed that bilingualism improved a person’s executive function, a term for the advanced mental abilities that allow us to control our thoughts and behavior.

A lot of students at South give up on a language after fulfilling the credits they need for college. They say, “I’m not good at it” or “I don’t have time in my schedule.” Those students might want to keep trying because according to a study by the University of Florida, the University of Miami, and the Florida Department of Education, in the United States a person who is fluent in both English and Spanish makes $7,000 than their monolingual counterparts.

Studying a foreign language can help students in their other classes as well. The brain learns a whole new system of a language and, in learning to use this new language, sharpens reading, negotiating, and problem-solving skills. In addition, memorizing the rules and vocabulary of a language builds the brain’s ability to associate information with a pattern of letters which improves a person’s memory. Bilingualism requires switching between two languages with ease and in turn, a person’s ability to multitask is strengthened.

Learning a language allows a person to connect with people of other cultures. Learning a language breaks the barrier that is created when people can’t communicate. As a student in my fourth year of Spanish, I understand many other traditions and customs of other cultures around the world with my studies. I could travel and be able to communicate with many more people than if I only spoke English. When a person learns a language, they don’t just learn the grammar and structure, they learn the culture of an entire group of people.

Becoming bilingual is extremely beneficial to a person in not only their career and education, but also because it helps create a knowledge of the world and improves a person’s mental abilities.