Testimonials

"My reasons to learn a new language"

To better understand our thought processes (from Judah Kay)

All of our thought processes are conducted in language, so really our entire existence or essense or soul, however we phrase it, is inextricably bound up to and with the languages we speak. Try to think without language for instance. However, we see that the language is in essence superficial, since many languages exist. To understand the true roots of our thought processes, the real nature of the human soul, a knowledge of several languages may be necessary.

To become someone else (from Janet Gil)

As a teen, I wished I were someone else. Learning Spanish let me be part of my best friend's family and have friends in college from South America whom I may not have met had I not had such an interest in learning Spanish. I liked myself with these other people more than I liked my American self (if that makes sense). I have known of people who learned another language at age 19 and above who now speak their second language almost without an accent but speak their first language with an accent!

To understand your own language and culture better (from Evona York)

Sometimes learning a foreign language helps you understand your own language and culture better through comparison, or through the relationship between the foreign language and your mother tongue. For instance, studying Latin in high school taught me an incredible amount of English, because English has so many words that come from the Latin. Same with Greek.

"Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen

Those who know no foreign language knows nothing of their mother tongue.

(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)"

To keep your mind healthy (from Harvey Schmidt)

Learning a second language has been proven to delay the onset of dementia.

To find your future husband/wife (from Rico Suave)

Learning a new language and culture increases the size of your selection pool.

To better understand the rest of humankind (from Philip Lightfoot)

Language is an aspect of humanity, and learning what a fellow human speaks teaches you more about humankind as a whole. The more languages you know, the more you understand our species, and that is beneficial no matter what the situation is.

To talk to friends without others understanding (from Elizabeth)

If you and some of your friends learn a foreign language, you'll be able to talk to each other without other people having a clue what you're saying. This works best if you choose a language few people study, such as Japanese.

To learn songs in other languages (from Michelle Kelleher Tietz)

Michelle has been learning Irish and Scottish Gaelic because she likes to sing and has founded an a cappella group that sings in Celtic languages. They sing old work songs, lullabies, etc. This hobby combines her interests in languages, history and story telling.

To help people in need (from Nuntawun Yuntadilok)

Learning other languages increases our chances of providing help to people who seriously need it, such as those in hit by the tsunami of 2004, many of whom can not communicate in English, especially children.

Friendship (from Bill Conwell)

My best friend is French and speaks English, Spanish and some German as well. I am trying to learn French to enhance our communication, though he doesn't demand nor expect it.

Venting your feelings (from Dick H.)

To help you understand how other people think (from Orionas)

Language influences culture, so learning a language helps you to understand how other people think, and it also helps you to get a general understanding of our world and the many people and cultures that inhabit it.

Because I love learning languages (from Cody Warren)

My reasons for learning foreign languages is because I just love to do it, it's all the different ways people express themself, and it shows that there really are other people out there (to a teenager who's always stuck at home in a small farm town). Its also a way to learn how people interact and socialize with each other, and how each society works.

Also, I like conlanging, and learning different laguages help me to understand how things work so i can build conlangs, and vice versa, creating the conlangs help me to understand how all different languages grammars work (Im always a sucker for using a lot of moods, cases, tenses, etc).

Learning languages to me, is much more than mking myself able to communicate with others. To me it's like getting some nice new surprise and a whole new level of understanding. has a scrollbar enabled.

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Why Learn a Foreign Language

Why learn foreign languages?

Why learn an artificial world-language?

Where could the whole world find common ground to communicate on equal conditions?

Have you ever thought about the fact that we all are foreigners almost everywhere?There are around 5 billion inhabitants in the world and they speak thousands of different languages. Would you be able to arrange everything you need for your daily life if you suddenly found yourself in an unfamiliar country? Would you be able to earn more money when your wallet is emptied? Would you feel welcome or alone? Or maybe you aren't planning ever to set your foot outsides the borders of your homeland?Both in the western world and in other parts of our planet it's possible to find people that already speak more than one language probably because different languages arespoken within the borders of some countries, but possibly also because people learn some internationally useful languages in school. How many people can actually speak any languagethat "highly educated western people" as ourselves speak when we go abroad?

I may very well be putting things to the edge, but my intention with this text is to try andprovoke debate, or at least open up the eyes on the readers to see what a problem it may bewhen you only can speak your own language.

Learn Languages!

To make myself perfectly clear I want to point out already at this point that I almost can't find words to express how important I find it to be to learn foreign languages. When one reflects on how fast the world is getting smaller and smaller, that people during the last decades have started to travel much more to foreign countries, how companies open branch offices on the other side of the earth, and realise that in 24 hours you can travel to almost any possible place on our globe, then I think there's already motivation enough to at least two or three globally spread languages.

This conviction becomes more obvious when you can suspect that Europe, that since centuries hasbeen regarded as playing the role of the centre of civilisation, within only one decade may have tostep aside for the constantly strengthened Asian countries what will happen if the Chineselanguage will replace the English with the more or less official role as the most accepted internationallanguage of the world? Will we then be forced to learn Chinese to be able to get certain jobs?

And besides: learning foreign languages also has the unquestionable benefit that you will learn more about your own language, your own culture and about the whole World. "He who knows no foreign language, knows nothing about his own" (see the beginning of this document).

So why wait?

The question is only what language you should start with... The ones of you that have decided to learn a new and useful language, but have not decided witch one, may very well have a look at the following list of the 20 most widely spoken languages of the World (a longer list with a lot more details can be found on the page Top 100 languages by population). Next to each language you can see an estimated figure of how many persons that had the language in question as mother tongue during 1999, and in which countries the languages are mainly (or originally) spoken. These 20 languages represent around 3/5 of the inhabitants of the Earth.

LanguageCountryPopulation

Mandarin China 885.000.000

Spanish Spain 332.000.000

English Great Britaiin 322.000.000

Bengali Bangladesh 189.000.000

Hindi India 182.000.000

Portuguese Portugal / Brasil 170.000.000

Russian Russia 170.000.000

Japanese Japan 125.000.000

German Germany 98.000.000

Chinese Wu China 77.175.000

Javanese Indonesia 75.500.800

Korean South Korea 75.000.000

French France 72.000.000

Vietnamese Vietnam 67.662.000

Telugu India 66.350.000

Yue China 66.000.000

Marathi India 64.783.000

Tamil India 63.075.000

Turkish Turkey 59.000.000

clues to a lucid old age

Study of people in their 90s without dementia alters understanding of brain

In recent years scientists have become intensely interested in what could be called a super memory club the fewer than one in 200 of us who, like Ms. Scott and Ms. Cummins, have lived past 90 without a trace of dementia. It is a group that, for the first time, is large enough to provide a glimpse into the lucid brain at the furthest reach of human life, and to help researchers tease apart what, exactly, is essential in preserving mental sharpness to the end.

These are the most successful agers on earth, and theyre only just beginning to teach us whats important, in their genes, in their routines, in their lives, said Dr. Claudia Kawas, a neurologist at the University of California, Irvine. We think, for example, that its very important to use your brain, to keep challenging your mind, but all mental activities may not be equal. Were seeing some evidence that a social component may be crucial.

Studying a second language in groups will provide both: mental challenge and a social component! Other studies shows that this is verdict

Studies on Languages

New study may revolutionize language learning

January 27th, 2009

(PhysOrg.com) -- The teaching of languages could be revolutionised following ground-breaking research by Victoria University, New Zealand, PhD graduate Paul Sulzberger. Dr Sulzberger has found that the best way to learn a language is through frequent exposure to its sound patterns--even if you haven't a clue what it all means.

Benefits of Learning a Second Language

Why is it important to learn a second language? To find out the benefits of learning a second language read on

Benefits of Learning a Second Language

We find diversity in the cultures and people make the so-called small world an enormous ocean of people; people boasting of their own cultures, traditions and languages. Their ways to express ideas were vary and so do their dialects. Benefits of learning a second language come in to picture when it comes to understanding and experiencing this diversity. Learning a second language is the acquisition of a language other than ones native language. It is a learning to express oneself in the words of other communities. It is like expressing ones ideas in the others way!

It is important to learn a second language to tickle the linguistic hemisphere of your brain. It is important to exploit brain potential to the maximum possible extent. One way to do it is learning different languages. Learning a second language develops the cognitive abilities. It is seen to be improving learning skills of a person. It increases the grasping power of a persons brain. According to an observation, people knowing many languages are likely to stay young!

Language lovers always find it interesting to explore languages other than their own. They are eager to dive into the sea of languages and master some of them. But for those who only engage in solving Math problems or delve into science inventions, it is necessary to even peep into the world of languages. Just see how enriched you feel on learning a second language.

Ask yourself the question, "Why is it important to learn a second language?" Your inner mind will respond by saying that it is always keen to learn new things, understand new cultures and be able to think and feel in different ways. Knowing just one language is not enough. Our mind yearns for new ways of expression. It is a human tendency to discover new means of communication. Second language can quench the thirst of newness. Brainpower depends on how active the brain is kept. It is proportional to the exercise given to the brain. Learning a second language is a good brain exercise. It involves comprehension of a completely new technique of expression. It includes the understanding of new words, their pronunciations and the meanings as well as the feelings they convey.

Another benefit of learning a second language is that it deepens the understanding of ones own language and culture. Knowing a language other than ones native language build confidence in him/her. It increases the scope of ones knowledge. It enables a person communicate with people speaking that language. Languages always serve as communication links between people. If one learns a second language he/she automatically becomes approachable to the community that speaks it. It earns him/her friends of other regions and religions.

Second language learning is found to manifest its benefits in school children. The strategies that children apply in learning the first language are applicable while learning a second language also. Knowing how to read and write in the first language supports the learning of a second language. Learning a second language build creativity in children and develops their literacy skills. School children who study a second language do better than their monolingual peers. Cultural and language experts believe in the benefits of learning a second language. They say that school children must be taught a second language. It widens their horizons. Some say, it is best to gain knowledge of a second language at an early age while others do not think an early age a necessity.

By not learning a second language, we limit the expanse of our knowledge. We miss the experience of the variety of people. We restrict our learning skills. Moreover, learning a second language can be fun. If this has convinced you of the benefits of learning a second language, go ahead! It is never too late!

By Manali Oak

Published: 6/9/2008

Reasons to learn a new language

Ager, Simon. "Omniglot - writing systems and languages of the world".

Emigration

When you move to a different country or region, learning the local language will help you to communicate and integrate with the local community. Even if many of the locals speak your language, for example if your L1 is English and you move to the Netherlands, it's still worth your while learning the local language. Doing so will demonstrate your interest in and commitment to the new country.

Family and friends

If your partner, in-laws, relatives or friends speak a different language, learning that language will help you to communicate with them. It will also give you a better understanding of their culture and way of thinking.

Work

If your work involves regular contact with speakers of foreign languages, being able to talk to them in their own languages will help you to communicate with them. It may also help you to make sales and to negotiate and secure contracts. Knowledge of foreign languages may also increase your chances of finding a new job, getting a promotion or a transfer overseas, or of going on foreign business trips.

Many English-speaking business people don't bother to learn other languages because they believe that most of the people they do business with in foreign countries can speak English, and if they don't speak English, interpreters can be used. The lack of foreign language knowledge puts the English speakers at a disadvantage. In meetings for example, the people on the other side can discuss things amongst themselves in their own language without the English speakers understanding, and using interpreters slows everything down. In any socialising after the meetings, the locals will probably feel more comfortable using their own language rather than English.

Study or research

You may find that information about subjects you're interested in is published mainly in a foreign language. Learning that language will give you access to the material and enable you to communicate with fellow students and researchers in the field.

"Language is the archives of history.

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)"

Travel

Many English speakers seem to believe that wherever you go on holiday you can get by speaking English, so there's no point in learning any other languages. If people don't understand you all you have to do is speak slowly and turn up the volume. You can more or less get away with this, as long as you stick to popular tourist resorts and hotels where you can usually find someone who speaks English. However, if you want to venture beyond such places, to get to know the locals, to read signs, menus, etc, knowing the local language is necessary.

A basic ability in a foreign language will help you to 'get by', i.e. to order food and drink, find your way around, buy tickets, etc. If you have a more advanced knowledge of the language, you can have real conversations with the people you meet, which can be very interesting and will add a new dimension to your holiday.

"Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.

The limits of my language are the limits of my universe.

(Ludwig Wittgenstein)"

Studying abroad

If you plan to study at a foreign university, college or school, you'll need an good knowledge of the local language, unless the course you want to study is taught through the medium of your L1. Your institution will probably provide preparatory courses to improve your language skills and continuing support throughout your main course.

Secret communication

If you and some of your relatives, friends or colleagues speak a language that few people understand, you can talk freely in public without fear of anyone eavesdropping, and/or you can keep any written material secret.Speakers of such Native American languages as Navajo, Choctaw and Cheyenne served as radio operators, know as Code Talkers, to keep communications secret during both World Wars. Welsh speakers played a similar role during the Bosnian War.

Required course

You may be required to study a particular language at school, college or university.

Getting in touch with your roots

If your family spoke a particular language in the past you might want to learn it and possibly teach it to your children. It could also be useful if you are research your family tree and some of the documents you find are written in a language foreign to you.

Revitalising or reviving your language

If you speak an endangered language, or your parents or grandparents do/did, learning that language and passing it on to your children could help to revitalise or revive it.

Culture

Maybe you're interested in the literature, poetry, films, TV programs, music or some other aspect of the culture of people who speak a particular language and want to learn their language in order to gain a better understanding of their culture.

"Most people in the world are multilingual, and everybody could be; no one is rigorously excluded from another's language community except through lack of time and effort. Different languages protect and nourish the growth of different cultures, where different pathways of human knowledge can be discovered. They certainly make life richer for those who know more than one of them.

(Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word) "

Religion

Missionaries and other religious types learn languages in order to spread their message. In fact, missionairies have played a major role in documenting and devising writing systems for many languages. Others learn the language(s) in which the scriptures/holy books of their religion were originally written to gain a better understanding of them. For example, Christians might learn Hebrew, Aramaic and Biblical Greek; Muslims might learn Classical Arabic, and Buddhists might learn Sanskrit.

Food

Perhaps you enjoy the food and/or drink of a particular country or region and make regular trips there, or the recipe books you want to use are only available in a foreign language

Linguistic interest

Maybe you're interested in linguistic aspects of a particular language and decide to learn it in order to understand them better.

Challenging yourself

Maybe you enjoy the challenge of learning foreign languages or of learning a particularly difficult language.

Sounds/looks good to me

Perhaps you just like the sound of a particular language when it's spoken or sung. Or you find the written form of a language attractive. If you like singing, learning songs in other languages can be interesting, challenging and enjoyable.

One language is never enough!

If like me you're a bit of a linguaphile / glossophile / linguaholic or whatever you call someone who is fascinated by languages and enjoys learning them, then one language is never enough.

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.

If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

(Nelson Mandela)"