Will Learning A Language Change Your Life?

Learning a language is one of the best things you can do for yourself. From the outside it looks like you just gain a language, which is of course is very true, and probably why you want to start learning it in the first place.

However, learning a language can drastically change your life, all for the better. I will go through some of the ways that it can happen, many of which I have personally experienced.

If you are any doubt about learning a language, just do it. It’s tough, but it’s extremely rewarding and the changes it can bring to your life are worth any of the suffering that you have to go through to get there.

You Get Access to New Culture

Language and culture are very closely intertwined and it will not take you long to start to experience the culture when you start learning the language.

Culture comes in many forms, but the easiest for us to enjoy from a distance is the seemingly endless supply of new books, TV shows and movies that we can start to enjoy in our new language. 

This now opens up a whole new world to you and it really can change your life, all or the better. It’s like you have access to twice as much entertainment and information as before, simply because you can speak to languages.

You Can Make New Friends

Probably the way my life has changed the most since learning a language has been through the friendships I have made along the way.

I really have met some incredible people, some of which I still speak to daily; they really have become some of my best friends!

This was all thanks to language learning and doing language exchanges. The exchanges are of course vital for getting good at the language, but being able to make friends at the same time is incredible.

Going back to the first point about culture, you will really get a strong exposure to culture when you start making friends with people in your new language. They will tell you all about their life and you can really learn a lot.

I now have friends all over the world and have even visited some of them, which has just been incredible. My life feels so much richer now from knowing these random people, and it was all thanks to language learning.  

Maybe Even A New Lover

While I have only made friends, I am sure plenty of people have met their lover through learning a new language and I’m sure many have went to on have happy lives together. I would say that is pretty life changing and certainly in a positive way.

Imagine deciding to learn a language today and then within a few years that ends up affecting the entire linage of your family’s future generations. I think that is incredible.   

You Have More Job Opportunities

Learning a language can also open the door to many more job opportunities for you. We are living in a global market place, so being bilingual is a very sought after skill.

The beautiful thing is that demand for people like this is high, but the pool of people who can actually do this is quite small, which means it works in your advantage.

You are always going to get work and due to the demand, you can probably get paid quite well. On average those people who need an extra language to do their job get paid higher than those that do not.

You also of course would now have the ability to work in more places around the world. Getting paid more and being able to work in a different country definitely sounds like a life changing benefit to me! 

(You can read more about – Getting A Job With Your Second Language)

Your Travel Experiences Will Be Better

I think it’s safe to say that language learners are interested in the world and they like travelling. Learning a language will actually make travelling more enjoyable for you.

While you can get pretty far with just using English, it becomes so much more pleasurable when you can speak the native language of the country you are visiting.

I have been to France both before and after learning how to speak French, and the difference is other worldly. I certainly had a great time when I went and just spoke English, but being able to speak French made everything way better.

I found that even little things like being able to understand conversations that random people where having as they walked past was just so enjoyable. It probably has a lot to do with realising that all those months of boring study had actually paid off and where not a waste of time.

You really do feel different, just so much more comfortable when you travel and know the local language, it really does make a difference.

You Will Get A Boost In Confidence

Learning a language is going to really boost your confidence, and not just in regards to the language, you will actually feel more confident over all.

Language learning is pretty difficult and this is exactly why most people stay well clear of it, they think it’s impossible and don’t even attempt it. When you actually do try, and succeed, you suddenly feel very powerful …you did the “impossible”.

I feel like you get a quiet confidence from acquiring the skill of a new language and anything that can make you feel like this is going to make your life better.

You Will Be A Better Learner

You will also find that after learning a language you become a better learner in general.

Endless hours studying actually makes you become extremely efficient at absorbing information and retaining it. I have found this when starting new hobbies; my brain is just able to suck everything up and process it all so much faster than it would have before.

Language learning really has changed how my brain works, in a positive way and over all I am now better at learning new things thanks to what I learned about myself while studying languages.

Your Brain Will Be Healthy

This is a hard thing to measure yourself, but it does happen. Learning a language will make your brain healthier. 

Just the activity of learning and practicing gets your brain cogs turning and is like a form of mental exercise.

You probably won’t see any direct effects of this, but just know that your brain is now healthier and will remain healthier for longer into your life, which is always a great thing and is a very positive change to make in your life.

(You can read more about – Why Learning A Language Is Good For Your Brain)

You Will Become More Interesting

The second you tell someone that you can speak another language you instantly become more interesting and this is a great change to have in your life.

Before I used to hate talking to strangers, awkwardly trying to work out what to talk about, now I just try and mention that I like to learn languages and that usually solves everything.

People see learning languages as this very mystical thing and they get so interested in it, you can talk at length about it and it just generally makes you more interesting.

There is only one thing more interesting that this …people who can speak multiple languages. Whenever I find a polyglot, I am so interested in them and how they have reached such heights in their learning, they are just interesting people!  

You Will Have A New Way Of Thinking

A very interesting change you will see in yourself when learning a language is that you almost start to think in a different way.

I guess you do become more open minded as you get enriched by different cultures, but you will also start to process things slightly differently, you almost start to think like a person who would speak your new language.

It’s hard to explain, but also sort of makes sense. If you travel a lot you will notice you get a different feeling in different places, which will be reflected in the language.

If you are learning that language, you will start to almost think like the people from that country, you are using their language and learning about their culture, so it makes sense that you would start processing  things in a similar way to them.

I would be interested to know if you feel this way too, you need to get quite advanced in the language, so it doesn’t happen right way, but give it time and you might start to notice you think this way too, and it’s pretty cool. 

Conclusion

As you can see learning a language really can change your life in many ways, and they are all positive.

I still think the main change will be that you can now just use the language, but I also do not think you should underestimate the other changes; they can still be very powerful, even if they are more understated.

Learning a language really is one of the best things you can do with your life and if you are thinking about it then just start! You will not regret it. It really is worth it, for so many different reasons.