Second Language Benefits

The Benefit of a Foreign Language

“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way,” says Frank Smith. From the American Community survey, 21% of children age 5 to 17 spoke another language besides English within the United States. Learning a second is important to society in my eyes because of the perseverance and sacrifice for those who are learning a foreign language, especially those who are learning English. The inspiration for this piece came from family and close people in my life who had somewhat struggled to learn another language but have prevailed and became more successful since then. Also, coming from a strong background of being Asian-American, the benefits are endless and the special

According to an article written by Penn State, “ The benefits of having ,more culturally aware students are numerous and the effects are immeasurable. Learning a second language allows cross-cultural communication, and opens the door to entire network of people that a person might not have had contact with before.” The study of foreign language upon an individual at an early age gives comfort and understanding insight to a diverse community. In which, everyday, our society is changing, and more cultures are exposed to our civilization. With more diversity growing yearly, the second language will not have limitations to have different relationships and bonds with people in life. Cross-cultural communication is an important factor given to life because growing up, there will be times where with diverse people within the workplace and a possibility of overseas contact. Though some people disagree. Some believe that there is no need to learn a second language to comprehend another culture. That is a valid belief, but learning a second language gives a more depth into understanding the culture compared to just reading an article or whatnot. The time spent to learning a second language shows the compassion and wellness to others and the culture. There will more familiarity between the current language and the second language. Cultural understanding is key now a

From telegraph.co.uk, studies have shown that, “For monolingual adults, the mean age for the first signs of dementia is 71.4. For adults who speak two or more languages, the mean age for those first signs is 75.5. Studies considered factors such as education level, income level, gender, and physical health, but the results were consistent.” More confidence is gained from a second language which boosts self esteem. Along with improving health, it prevents other health issues to occur towards you. The effects of learning a second is long term, in which there’s a chance of living a longer period of time “sane”. Another way learning a second language enhances health is being a safe and efficient distractions to bad habits like smoking or drinking, etc. Studies have shown that there are many cases to a previous user to smoking stopped by learning a second language. By focusing on learning the language, the addiction weared off cause another “addiction” occurred with learning a second language. Some people may disagree due to the reason that its not learning a second language is not the reason why it improves mental health because of actual medical help the individual is receiving. For some cases, that may be true, but not all cases are extreme to medical supervision. Matters can be taken into your own hands to improve yourself as a person physically and mentally. Not every health issue is needed to