Currently, there are over 7000 languages spoken around the globe, each with unique features. Some languages such as English and Mandarin dominated almost all nations. The demand for the ability of bilingual speakers has enticed schools to educate students to learn another foreign language. However, some parents are skeptical about giving students the chance of learning a different language. Personally, the benefits of learning new languages outside their native far outweighs the downsides. The main benefits being that developing new language skills can boost confidence, increased communication skills, and have a higher chance of career opportunities in the future
First, learning a new language can boost confidence and communication skills. By understanding new languages, students can expand their social interactions skills as they can communicate with other people abroad without being limited to just one language. Being flexible in multilingual means better communication, hence enhancing public speaking skills as the students who can understand foreign languages are proven to be far more likely to be chosen to represent a group, boosting their confidence even more.
Second, mastering a new language can increase the odds of getting new job opportunities. One of the biggest marketing strategies for companies is to expand worldwide, which means needing a translator who can communicate with the locals as a way to promote their product. Bilingual candidates stand out from monolingual applicants, making them more attractive to employers. Language skills open doors for remote jobs like translation, transcription, tutoring, and content creation, which can be a golden opportunity for companies looking to expand their franchise. Hence learning new language skills can open up a lot of job opportunities for working abroad as well.
However, not every parent views developing language skills this way. Some parents think that learning a new language can be risky as the student’s future is uncertain whether they are going to use the language or not as means of communicating, this holds especially true for English speakers, as there are 67 countries who primarily use English as their native language and there are 1,35 billion English speakers around the world. Compare that to just 400 million Spanish native speakers who are mostly in Spain and South American countries. These factors can make parents reconsider invaluable for students to waste time and effort on a new language when they can learn other skills more useful for the future.
In conclusion, as the world evolves, and certain languages start appearing more and more globally, it is without a doubt, in my opinion, that students should learn at least 1 foreign language. The benefits of this skill in career opportunities and communication skills far outweighs the fear of impractical usage, plus learning one of two new languages can be useful when decided to visit abroad, as not many locals outside can speak the same language as us, those skills can be very useful for asking locations and communicating with locals.