The Benefits of Foreign Languages

Languages have existed for hundreds of thousands of years. Each has its own culture and history, but they can also act as barriers between different speakers. Nowadays, people can break down these barriers, which have existed for so long, by learning a foreign language in their school or even on their own.

At Silver Creek High School, for example, French and Spanish are offered. Students are able to choose between any of these three languages to learn throughout their time in high school. Although participating in these classes is not required to graduate, their benefits are substantial.

From an academic standpoint, languages can provide an enormous college registration buffer. Tracy Knick, the French teacher at Silver Creek, commented on this topic, mentioning her son as an example.

“He passed the AP French exam, and that gave him 15 college [hours],” she said.

Colleges love to see that a high school student studied a language, because being able to speak with more people in a future professional field is a highly desired talent. Some colleges do require world language education, seeing as the ability to communicate easily can open up a plethora of new opportunities and shows internal motivation, focus, organization and personal desire.

Students who continue the language studies path will likely also find success in future professions. Many employers source bilingual applicants to help build business.

“As far as finance and job opportunities, nowadays Spanish is huge in the United States and globally,” Jeffery Fredman, one of the Spanish teachers at Silver Creek, said.

Although Spanish is very widely spoken, being able to speak any language at all opens up a whole new perspective to the learner. It can reveal a new culture and community to the learner. Some students have even taken their communication skills to the next level.

“Some restaurants have multiple Spanish-speaking servers, so I can talk to them in multiple languages,” said Chris Lemus, a freshman taking Spanish 4 at Silver Creek.

Learning a new language changes how the world is interacted with, allowing better expression with new people and exposure to new adventures. Not only this, but in school, it can be the class that students can look forward to and feel comfortable with.

“Students who haven’t had a good time in school can have their first success with me,” Knick said.

But language learning has even more perks beyond academic and social contexts. Studies from Cambridge have proven that it’s good for the brain, with bilingual people having more neurons that coordinate communication. Your brain is actually getting boosted. New experiences form new connections and nervous system links, making language learning a workout for the brain.

Not only this, but studies from Iowa State University say brain diseases can be delayed in language learners. They found out that in most cases, symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease were delayed by up to five years in people that speak more than one language fluently. It is important to note, however, that being bilingual does not prevent brain diseases, rather it simply strengthens the brain to be healthy for a longer time.

“We also know that people who are bilingual have substantially less incidents of degenerative brain disease,” Knick said.

This enormous benefit means that not only do languages help on academic, professional, and social fronts, but they also improve the brain health of the multilingualists out there.

But whether you’re learning a language to speak with more people, get college credit, or are simply learning for fun, you’re going to get something positive from it no matter what.

“You really learn about others in a way that it makes being different not only okay, but sometimes cool,” Knick said.