The Advantages of Learning a Second Language
Currently I am learning both Spanish and Chinese. With the belief that once I graduate I will be able to speak to a lot of people in the world. Currently 4.7% of the world speak Spanish and 15% of the world speak Chinese. Additionally, I can also bluff my way in French (0.95%) not to mention the fact that my native tongue English is spoken by 7.4% of the world’s population. So, on graduating I hope that I will be able to speak to 28.05% of the world. Or to think about this in a visual sense – in a room of 10 people of varying random nationalities I should be able to converse with 2.8 people. Well that’s the plan anyway.
This year I spent a month in Shanghai, China. An incredible city – I can see myself living there. With an official population of almost 19 million but it is probably closer to 22+ million with immigrants etc. Being in that Chinese environment helped my language come on dramatically. Helped by the fact that I had language lessons in the mornings until lunch time and then the rest of the day off. For the rest of the day I could practice what Id learned that day – after stepping outside the classroom. Currently, Iv just spent over a month here in rural Costa Rica in a town of just over 2000, completely the opposite – and again my language skills are coming on rapidly by being here. But in a different sense. I am here Teaching English (TEFL) but dont really need Spanish lessons as such. I feel that my colloquial and less formal Spanish is really developing. Unlike at home, when stepping out of a lecture on complex Spanish grammar I am surrounded by Scots who I can’t really practice with.
“Learning a second language can be a huge benefit in modern day society.” More…
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