A well-honed mind, good job, understand life? learn a foreign language free! (Part 1)
FREE FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES
I was reading what is considered to be the best book on photographic lighting; it ranks number one in that category on Amazon. On the first page, it encourages the reader by stating that it’s easier than learning a foreign language. It’s also easier for marketers to give things an ‘exotic’ foreign sounding name than to learn a foreign language. But it’s the sizzle, not the steak, so to speak.Consider, however, that baby boomers are being regaled with games and exercises to keep the mind ‘limber.’ You can do crossword puzzles. What you’ll get is a knowledge of very obscure place names no one ever uses. Really want to keep your mind limber? Learn a second language. Really learn it; it’s not just “Como esta usted” or “no problemo”; it’s ”no problema” anyway, and “problema” is a masculine noun. It’s a challenge, but it’s interesting; it can provide you with learning goals, and it can make you a “better person,” assuming you’re not too bad to begin with: a. Most countries today, because of increasing urbanization, international commerce, tourism, business travel, and modern technology have begun to embrace the concept of a society that is multicultural. A globalized multicultural society would have to also be a society that is multilingual.The US regards itself as the world’s melting pot, it has very low levels of proficiency in learning a second language. Most students usually study just English, or learn a second language in a cursory fashion. The inflow of immigrants of Hispanic origins has resulted in creating a great need for Spanish translators and interpreters. Likewise for other languages.
The importance of learning a second language is not merely limited to the ability of communicating with people who speak different languages. According to studies, it has been shown that learning a second language results in students achieving greater divergent thinking, creativity, and cognitive development compared to monolingual children.
A number of studies have also shown that when students learn a second language they have a tendency of outscoring those who are proficient in only a single language on tests of nonverbal and verbal intelligence.
Other studies have shown that students learning a second language improve their abilities in mathematics, writing, and reading.
When people learn a second language, they become a valuable asset to the community in which the work and live. There are an increasing number of jobs where people are required to interact with people that speak other languages. Learning a second language enables a person to adapt to a variety of cultural backgrounds. Communicating in another language can be a factor to the overall achievement of professional and personal career goals.
When one absorbs another culture by learning a second language, it also enables us to comprehend what role language plays in shaping our thought patterns (the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis-see last week). Often, other languages have better methods of expressing ideas, concepts, or thoughts compared to English, which usually become a part of English, thus enabling English language
Pura vida, mae!
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