'Language holds the key to our knowledge, our understanding, our memory, our culture and our identity'. This quote from Bernadette Homes (Speak to the Future) is key to understanding what languages can bring to us. Languages open doors. Learning a language is important because the UK is a multilingual and multicultural society. And, languages help young people gain an understanding of other countries and cultures in preparation for life as global citizens.
More employable citizens:
As the UK has consolidated its exit from the European Union, the role of languages and having graduates with linguistic skills and cultural agility will become even more important for the UK economy. Not only in terms of our 'soft power', but in supporting businesses to break into international markets, developing new trade agreements and positive relationships.
Brain benefits of learning a Language:
Language learning has many undeniable cognitive benefits. People who speak more than one language have better memory and listening skills. They also have an enhanced concentration, have a better ability to multitask and are better at problem- solving showing good critical-thinking skills as well.
It has been suggested that learning a second language helps prevent brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia and can even have a profound effect on your ability to understand music.
Travel opportunities:
By learning a new language, you can explore a new section of the world. If you only speak English, you can only communicate with 20% of the world’s population. If you learn, however, another widely spoken language like Spanish, German or French, you immediately open a much greater percentage of the world’s population to interact with. Being able to travel with languages is a great way of meeting new people, creating ever-lasting friendships, or even finding love…
Understanding more than one language also opens up a whole world of entertainment, like the ability to understand art and literature which will help you appreciate the world around us.
What stops us from learning languages?
For many people, the initial embarrassment barrier can hold them back from learning. This barrier comes in all forms, even from family members saying “ I was never good at languages in school”. Learning a language is not done in a day. It might take several years of trial and error, but like in any other skill, practice makes the master.
Getting through the initial barrier and willing to retry whenever things don’t go as planned, can help improve confidence, which might help learning further languages. The more languages you try, the easier they are to learn and the more confident you become, to the point to feel confident enough to work or move abroad. I have done it and it is worth it!
Montserrat Carrillo
Head of MFL
EAL Coordinator and Year 10 tutor
