Figini Florencia

A Foreign Mother Tongue

A foreign language is the language of a country different from our own. Therefore, why
should we spend a lot of time and effort learning something that some people consider
not too relevant? Learning a second language may be boring or too hard, but it may also
open the door for other opportunities and to new perspectives different from the ones we
already know. As a Czech proverb says, you live a new life for every new language
you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once. According to this
proverb, to remain monolingual means to miss the chance to fully appreciate and
understand not only our own world, but the reality and customs of the region in which
the language we are learning is spoken. Among these reasons, there are other
motivations for studying a second language. The increase of the speakers mental
abilities not only in the areas connected with the speech but with other areas also-, is
one of the most outstanding points. Furthermore, since the ability to communicate is a
dire need for companies that compete internationally, it is impossible not to take into
account the improvement of employment potential for people who speak more than one
language.
An Italian film director once said: A different language is a different vision of life. (F.
Fellini in Why par. 4) To learn a foreign language increases our opportunities for
getting an insight into our own culture, in addition to allow people to really know and
understand the literature, the music, the films, and even the ideas born in other cultures.
In order to fully comprehend what artists meant to express in a piece of art either oral
or written-, the actual words and feelings they have tried to convey, it is necessary to
know their language. Having contact with the actual words a person has used to
communicate, without translations, helps us to understand the actions, customs and
ideology of other people, expanding our knowledge and our ability to interact with
them. Learning a foreign language promotes a global understanding, not only because
we learn about other people, but also because it leads us to a better insight into our
minds and into the thoughts and feelings of the people who surrounds us.
Similarly, it is our mental abilities that benefit from the process of learning a foreign
language. Studying a second language enables people to use more effectively their
mother tongue and to develop more easily mental flexibility, creativity, and other
thinking skills such as reasoning, conceptualizing, analyzing, and problem solving. This
is thought to be the result of the variety of learning skills that are implicated and
developed while a person is learning a new language. In a study carried out by Eugene
Timpe, it was concluded that foreign language study enhances students' understanding
of languages in general and enables them to use their native language more effectively
(Warning par. 2). What is more, it has also been found that bilingual people has a
more extensively utilized cerebral range and a wider intellectual ability than the
monolingual. (Eight par. 7). Consequently, learning a language can be hard or take

time, but it gives the language student the benefits of a cognitive development that
monolingual people do not enjoy.
Finally, and from a different perspective, it can also be taken into account the fact that
bilingual or multilingual people have more chances to find a job and to occupy better
positions. This is certainly true for companies that compete internationally, for the travel
industry, for communication, for international law and for many other areas, to which
the ability to communicate in a foreign language constitutes a dire need. Even though it
is not true that a job can be found without the knowledge of a second language, a
recent survey indicated that 70% of the nation's employers [in the United States] are
interested in hiring personnel with some degree of language training. (Eight par. 5)
Employees who speak only one language can communicate with people who speak that
same language. Therefore, knowing a second language certainly improves
employability.
To sum up, while learning a foreign language may be considered to be tedious, the
advantages of becoming bilingual or multilingual are enormous. To stunt our education
development, to restrict our communication and thinking abilities denying our self the
ability to fully appreciate and understand the world in which we live the different
cultures that coexist in our planet- are some of the implications of remaining
monolingual. Moreover, since language knowledge is becoming more and more an
essential quality among the requirements to get certain jobs, to be bilingual enlarges our
chances to find better positions in different industries. Taking all these facts into
consideration, everybody, whatever their first language, ought to learn a foreign
language.

Works Cited:
Eight Reasons Why You Should Not Get Involved with the Study of Foreign
Languages, retrieved: 20 April, 2007.
http://www.serve.com/shea/whynotfl.htm
Sherrie A. Ray, Warning! Important Info Regarding your Future, retrieved: 20 April,
2007.
http://www.disls.ualr.edu/~saray/main/whystudy1.htm
Why we Learn Languages, retrieved: 20 April, 2007.
http://www.vistawide.com/languages/why_languages.htm
Additional bibliography:
Wesley John, Five Great Reasons to Learn a Foreign Language, submitted: 13
December, 2006. Retrieved: 20 April, 2007.
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/5-great-reason-to-learn-a-foreign-language/
Wolman Vernica, Nios bilinges, mejores alumnos, Univision Online, retrieved: 20
April, 2007.
http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid=449637