In an increasingly interconnected world, the advantages of being multilingual are bigger than ever. We’re crossing borders more than ever before, for business trips and for holidays and adventures, so being multilingual is a major plus when exploring other countries.
In this post, we’re going to outline five benefits of being multilingual and the ways in which these advantages can help you in your professional and personal life. So, let’s start and find out exactly why being multilingual is so important.
For many people, the primary advantage of being multilingual is increasing employability. In the globalised world in which we live, business deals more and more frequently involve firms from different countries, so speaking more than one language is key to getting deals done.
That’s why language skills are in high demand for recruiters. If applying to work for any global company, the benefits of being multilingual and of being able to communicate across different languages and different cultures are huge. There may be a variety of translation tools out there, but recruiters understand that these can never fully achieve the same effect and that the advantage of being multilingual remains a very important one.
If you decide to learn a foreign language, you’ll actually learn more about your native language along the way. For example, if you start taking a French course or a German course, your teacher will go through all kinds of language structures and terms to explain how French or German works, terms such as “verbal periphrasis” or “negation”. Most of these concepts also exist in whatever your native language is, but you probably never thought about them since you learned your native language in a different way.
Therefore, when you enrol in a language learning course to study a second language, you’ll not only pick up vocabulary and grammar from that second language but you’ll also gain a better understanding of how all languages work, including your own.
Understanding the local language when you travel is another of the most important benefits of being multilingual. Of course, you can usually get by just fine even if you don’t speak the language of a holiday destination, but understanding the local language can take your experience to the next level. It can help you discover monuments, events, food and more, leading you off the beaten track and expanding your horizons beyond the typical tourist traps.
Perhaps the ultimate advantage of being multilingual when on holiday is that you can establish a much more genuine connection with the locals. People love when tourists have taken the time to learn their language and are generally more likely to engage with you in a meaningful way
Studying a language can also lead to direct travel opportunities, as many students spend time in a country which speaks the language they’re learning. For example, thousands of language learners visit Spain every year to take Spanish courses. Not only does a trip like this improve language skills, but it can also be a very rewarding cultural experience.
It has long been thought that speaking multiple languages leads to increased stimulation of the brain and that this is beneficial on the whole, and several studies in recent years have discussed these potential health benefits of being multilingual.
For example, a study by BMC Geriatrics, concluded: “A higher number of spoken languages was positively associated with overall cognitive performance. Multilingualism may contribute to cognitive reserve, as well as protect and delay cognitive decline in late life.”
Furthermore, in terms of mental health, multilingualism has been shown to improve self-esteem and reduce stress. It goes without saying that these are some of the most valuable benefits of being multilingual.
One of the advantages of being multilingual is the chance to explore a whole new world of culture. Whatever your hobbies and interests are, speaking another language will expand the number of materials you can access on this subject.
Take movies, for example. If you are a cinephile then knowing more than one language will open up so many more movies for you to watch. Or, if you love to read, you could pick your next book from the best authors in your second or third language. That’s one of the most fun benefits of being multilingual.
