Why Should You Learn a New Language?

The world is growing at a very fast rate. Businesses in America are joining with companies in Japan to create a higher rate of production and a larger rate of sale. This advancement in joining huge business forces together in different countries has many huge advantages. However, many workers aren't able to participate in these international business meetings or even directly talk to their partners from a foreign country. Why? Because they aren't able to speak the language of the country they are in.

Languages have become the most important things to know when it comes to anything dealing with international affairs whether it be international business, dealing with exchange students, or just vacationing in another country. Let's say you're working for a company that has regular meetings in France and you really want to go to these meetings. The only problem is you don't know the first thing about speaking French. Your company's president will probably take this into consideration and when he's picking who he wants to go with him, he'll probably not even take you into consideration and hire the other guy that's fluent in French. 

Along with languages being imperative to learn for international affairs, they also serve another purpose. Learning a new language furthers your knowledge for not only that language, obviously, but also the country's culture and history. When you learn a new language, your mind opens up to new things that you didn't know before. You have new experiences, you meet new people, you try new things, all that you wouldn't have been able to do if you didn't know another language. I have been learning Japanese for around six years and have done things I wouldn't have imagined doing. I've actually been to Japan, and was able to talk to native Japanese people in Japanese, I've participated in Japanese customs like the ancient art of tea ceremony, calligraphy, and theater. I've also been to many Japanese castles, ancient temples, and places like that that some Japanese kids haven't been able to go to. I've even participated in a national Japanese competition in Washington, D.C.

In learning Japanese at school, I also have realized that I want to be a Japanese teacher and a translator for the government when I graduate college because of how fascinated I am with Japan's language and culture. If I never began learning Japanese, I never would have been exposed to all of these wonders that come with learning a new language. 

Learning a new language may be hard at first, but I promise you that the benefits in the end will be better than you can ever imagine.