The Importance of Learning a New Language

Most people don’t realize the importance of learning a second language until they travel to a
different country or even move to a different palace where the language that is spoken is not the
same as the one they already know. As someone that moved to the United States 5 years ago
and was used to speaking Spanish all the time, I can say that learning a second language, in
this case, English, would have helped me a lot before coming here. Learning a second
language opens a world of opportunities, grows your brain, and makes you more open-minded.
First of all, learning a second language gives you a lot more opportunities when looking for a job
because now that the world is more connected and we have to make connections with people
from all over the world, it will give you an advantage over others to make that connection and
have better communication with your customers and coworkers. I have experienced this at most
of my jobs where I have to deal with people from the United States but also from different parts
of south and central America. In Detroit, there are a lot of people from different parts of the
world so it is really easy to find them everywhere, even at companies. Sometimes is easier to
communicate with people in their main language, especially if they don’t feel comfortable talking
in a foreign one. At work, I have realized that knowing two languages has opened me a lot of
opportunities and experiences where I can do different things than others because of my ability
to communicate in Spanish, but also English.
In addition to this, learning a second language grows your brain in the way that it exercises your
memory and creativity. I read a study that showed how people that learned a second language
were more creative, better at problem-solving, and tend to have bigger brains. This is not a
surprise because when you are speaking in a different language, you have to switch quickly
when translating your words in your mind, so every time you are talking in a second language
you are exercising your mind. Over time, it is becoming easier for me to speak in English and it
took less time to translate the words which makes me believe that knowing a second language
is growing my brain. In the beginning, it took a lot of time to translate words when talking, but
now, most of them just come out and I don’t even have to think too much when talking.
Finally, another benefit that a second language has for people is the fact that it makes you more
open-minded. By this, I refer to the fact of getting involved with different cultures. It is not a
secret that language is a crucial part of every culture and once you decide to learn it you are
acquiring a part of that culture. When you learn another language you become more aware of
the differences that we have with each other and understand more about others and their
behaviors, you start to see the world with a different perspective and understand where others
come from while gaining a lot of new experiences. When you learn a different language is more
about learning new words. It is about learning how others communicate and that gives you a
huge inside of their costumes and behaviors. Most people that have traveled or moved to a
different country and had to learn a second language can relate to this and they do understand
more how others act and are more aware of the differences because they have been working on
understanding how they communicate with each other and how are they best ways to express
their ideas. I will never speak in the same way to my friends back home and people here in the
United States because the way each group talk is different so I have to accommodate the
different behavior and even slang when communicating which has opened my mind to different
ways to talk to people, express and treat others.
To summarize, the importance of learning another language goes further than just
communicating with other people when you travel. It gives you a wide view of the world, more
experiences and more knowledge about other cultures. Knowing a second language opens a
world of opportunities, helps grow your mind, and makes you more open-minded but you might
only be able to experience this when you do travel or move to a different country and interact
with people from around the world. If more people would take the time to learn a second
language it would be so much easier to understand and accept the differences between us
helping us to build better relationships and connections with the world around us.