Those Benefits You Don’t Know To Learn Languages-Part 1

hsnu1295 2020-04-08 2 Comments

Introduce myself

English

Hey guys, I am Kevin, and I am fond of learning languages. Now I can speak 5 languages, Spanish, English, Mandarin, Japanese and a little French.

Spanish

Sé que no lo pueden creer. Para ti fue difícil aprender un idioma nuevo, pero para mi hay unas maneras de hacer un esfuerzo para mejorarme.

Japanese

多分あなたは私の方法が一体何ですかが知りたいですよね。では、始めましょう。

French

Je suis trés heaureax de partager mon expérience d’apprentissage ici. Je suis désolé parce que je ne parler bien français, donc je ne peux plus parler maintenant.

Mandarin

我用中文來總結，是的以上就是我會的5種語言，學習語言是有方法的，只要你有心想學一門外語，網路上其實有非常多的資源可以用，但最重要的還是要有毅力，持之以恆囉！

As above, I am fond of learning languages. Now I can speak 5 languages, Spanish, English, Mandarin, Japanese and a little French. You may think how it could be possible to know so many languages at once. You may think that being bilingual is such a hard thing, not to mention being a polyglot. Well, I am here to tell you that if it is possible for me, then it is possible for you as well.

9 advantages you should know

Click me to Part 2

1.Make friends easily from all over the world

You may think that it is enough to talk with foreigners in English. Well, you might be right if you are in those countries whose native language is English, like Australia, England, and America. However, not everyone in the world can use English to express themselves very well. It is undeniable that people will open their minds if you can speak their language, and trust me, it is a terrific way to break the ice.

When I lived in Australia, I’m enthusiastic in learning Spanish, cause there are lots of Latin Americans in Australia. I still remember one time I got a new roommate from Argentina, and we became very good friends after. Below was our first-meet conversation in Spanish：

Me：Hola, soy Kevin de Taiwan. De donde eres.
Roommate：Pardon?? (It’s very common reaction because people never expect you can speak their language)
Me：(repeat)
Roommate：Oh, argentina.
Me：¿Como Anda? Tengo mucho tiempo ahora. Si tu quieres, me puedo enseñarte el piso.
Roommate：Si si si por supuesto. Gracias. ¡Hablas español muy bien!……….

2.Know their cultures deeply through their languages

Let me tell you a story. When I lived in a share house where all the people inside speak Spanish(Most from Chile and Colombia) in Brisbane. Every night we would gather in the living room. One time they drank Tequila and they gave me one shot with a hat-shape bottle cap. They said it’s a tradition from Mexico and they called the cap “Sombrero”.

One day my Chile roommates made two Chilean dishes, one was called “Sopaipillas” while the other one was called “Pebre“. That was a wonderful experience in my life. Now every time when it comes to Chile, these two food come up to my my mind.

What’s more, I like to watch dramas to learn languages. Most Japanese dramas are talking about getting into Tokyo university, hard-working groups, hospital and police. It is not so hard to notice the fierce competing culture in Japan. What about Spanish dramas? Haha most of them are talking about criminal, and it is very true in the reality.

3.Reinforce your memory

There is a saying that learning different languages will make your brain produce some kind of connection between each languages and further more, reinforce the memory.

For me, recently I am learning French and I find out there are so many similarities between Spanish and French. Sometimes when I see a word I don’t comprehend, my brain will automatically generate a way, maybe through pictures, or through association with Spanish words or English words, to make it easier to remember.

4.Change your thinking ways and your personality

Here, I would like to use “change the channel” to describe transferring the languages. While I immerse in Spanish environment, I can think in Spanish. Likewise, I can think in English if I stay in a English environment. There is one funny and impressive story. I stayed in a share house with 5 roommates speaking French. One day my friend from Peru had a birthday party and he invited me to celebrate it. When I met them, the first sentence I said was “Bonne Anniversaire” instead of “Feliz cumpleaños”. Further more, I said “Oui” instead of “Sí”

Speaking of personality, when I speak Japanese, I will become very courteous. In Japan, they use respectful words to those who are elder than them. Also, they say thank you and I’m sorry(ありがとう、すいません)frequently. When I speak English, I like to say “hello, how are you” to strangers(In Taiwan, we say hello at most). When I speak Spanish, I will become very passionate instead of the shy guy I used to be, and I find out I gradually become more and more outgoing and optimistic. I guess that it is due to the enjoy-the-life lifestyle in Latin America.

5. Get more opportunities(volunteer, work, study…)

For me, learning language is one of my hobbies. However, coming back to the reality, it is always a common question that whether being a polyglot is an advantage in the job or not. Well, let’s watch the video below and then I’ll come back to this question.

It is an interesting video. Indeed, being a polyglot is beneficial. Yet, I can’t guarantee you that you can get a wonderful job. I suggest that you still need to have your own area of expertise. What I want to tell is you will get more opportunities to explore this world.