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Learning a foreign language benefits a person in several ways. It allows you to communicate when traveling, have a better understanding of a foreign culture, improve foreign business relations, and expands the capabilities of the mind. Learning a foreign language will help you to appropriately interact with other cultures, and avoid the many faux pas made by many foreigners, sometimes causing embarrassing or insulting situations. Learning a second language will make your travel more enjoyable, and you more employable.

For the traveler, learning a foreign language allows you to interact with the natives on a deeper level, both fostering relationships and enhancing the ability to understand important basic information such as directions. It doesn't help you to ask for directions if you don't know the words for "left" and "right." It makes it difficult to travel by train if you
don't understand the ticket seller when she asks how many tickets you need, and how many are for adults and children.

Learning a foreign language can also help you to understand another culture. Understanding how a culture greets each other, the grammar they use, and the compliments they give can create new understandings. For example, in Chinese one does not brag about one's children. Doing so is believed to cause bad luck. It is more appropriate to speak of "my disobedient child." In Vietnam if someone asks a person his age and responds with "oh you are very old" this is a compliment.

Confusing "hambre" and "hombre" in a Mexican restaurant is the difference between ordering a hamburger and ordering a hot guy. (I'll leave it to you to decide which one you'd rather have. Personally if I am hungry I would much prefer the burger.) In Chinese the tone you use when pronouncing the letters "mama" is the difference in speaking of your mother and speaking of a cow. Calling your mother a cow shows a tremendous disrespect for your mother in a society that values its elders.

Foreign languages expand the capabilities of the human mind. This is particularly true for early second language learners. Learning a second language helps develop the language centers of the brain. Thus, learning a second language makes it easier to learn a third and fourth one.

In this age of the global economy it is becoming increasingly important to know at least one foreign language. For the person who must interact with people who does not share your first language any business or political dealings must go through an interpreter. The person who can speak this language fluently has a head start over the competition, as you are able to speak directly with the other party, creating greater trust and respect.

Jobs available to the multilingual speaker can be both lucrative and exciting. Speaking a second language can make you more employable, allowing you to get hired for jobs that single language speakers are not as well qualified. Many jobs that require bilingual speakers involve working overseas either through short-term travel or long-term overseas employment.

From communication to employment to cultural understanding, the multilingual speaker has many advantages over the single language speaker. The rewards of learning or having your children learn a second language are great. Before you travel learn at least a few words of the language that is spoken at your destination. Even just knowing the words for "thank you" and "please" can go a long way towards building rapport with the people you meet. Better yet, bring a phrase book with you and make an effort to speak to people in their own language. While they may laugh at your pronunciation, they will be pleased that you are making the extra effort.

Learn more about this author, Frances Simon.
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