Knowing a second language can be useful in all areas of your life, both professional as well as personal. Someone once said that to possess another language is to possess another soul. A new language definitely allows people to see things differently and opens a lot of doors in life. In today’s globalising world languages became one of the very key elements to a person’s professional success, and agencies offering Translation services now grow faster than ever, making sure that the businesses across our globe are able to trade without limits.
What about your personal life? A number of people decide to learn a language to be able to communicate with friends or family. Others, learn a language as a simple hobby and a way of keeping themselves busy. Yet, perhaps the most exciting reason to learn a new language is to be able to use it whilst travelling. There are number of reasons and ways a person could make use of their language skills, even if not speaking fluently, and here are the top 5!
Meet new people
Visiting a foreign country and being able to speak its language will allow you to meet and get to know new, exciting people. Remember, not everyone in the world speaks English and therefore speaking the language of a country you are visiting, even if not fluently, shows respect to the local people who would then be more approachable!
See and explore more
Of course, you can see a number of interesting and remarkable attractions by simply following a well-known tourist route with other tourists on your side – all taking the exact same picture in the same pose, one by one. Knowing a language of the country you are visiting will however allow you to explore and discover extraordinary places perhaps known only to the locals!
In case of emergency
Although this isn’t something any of us would like to think about, there are situations when you might need to visit for example a police station or a hospital during your journey. Knowing the language will allow you to explain the situation better to the local authorities. You will be able to inform about any medications you took or allergies that you might have, making sure you receive the best treatment.
Understand the culture
Charlemagne once said that to speak another language is to possess another soul. A statement especially true during one’s escapades to the unknown parts of the world. Being able to communicate in a local language will allow you to speak directly with locals who might not speak any English at all and therefore understand their culture, history and way of life in much more depth.
Bargain
Last, but not least – speaking another languages will let you bargain in local shops or markets. This can be especially useful in countries such as Thailand where bargaining is a part of everyday life and negotiating for a better price is somewhat expected from the customer.
As you can see, speaking another language during your travels brings along a number of benefits which can be extremely valuable in a variety of situations. If you found yourself in a situation where you wish you’d speak the local language during your travel, let me know in the comment.
My view, Emma, is that learning any language is worth doing, although life is simply too short to learn them all. We need to ask ourselves which language we are learning and why. Learn Mandarin, and you’re tongue –tied in Japan. Learn Portuguese and you can’t even ask for a loaf of bread in Germany. Learn Arabic and you are reduced to miming in Russia. The obvious solution would be to make wider use of Esperanto, which is well-established as a good introduction to learning languages.
Over 37,000 people have signed on for the new (beta) Duolingo Esperanto course in just a month.
Hi,
Nice article, I love to learn a new language so that when I am travelling to any other place I can communicate the people with their native language and I always encourage this that we should start learning new languages at an early age.
keep sharing more article with us.
Take Care