Why Learn a Foreign Language?Do you want to learn a foreign language? There are so many languages we could learn to speak, and I have to admit I feel a little language greedy. I couldn't decide which language to teach my children, so I wanted to learn them all (and my daughter suggested that too) - not too likely, so we had to choose. Are you facing the same question? Which language do we choose???Learning Resources for Specific LanguagesIf you've already picked the language you want to learn, check out "Specific Foreign Language Learning Resources".You'll find many free online resources and ideas for learning a foreign language. However, maybe you're still exploring which language you want to learn, or maybe you're not even sure that you can teach yourself or your children a foreign language. Then keep reading this page, and check out the resources for specific languages later.
Reasons to Learn a Foreign LanguageDon't despair if you think you have no natural ability to learn a foreign tongue. Don't worry if you don't know a word of another language yet. You can still help yourself and your children to speak another language, and there's many benefits for taking on the challenge.Why bother? Well on the lighter side - consider that in Europe they have a joke:
Q: What do you call someone who speaks two languages?
Point made - so, here's some factors you might consider when making your first choice of which language to learn. Yes you can learn more than one. You could learn some basics, or conquer one language, and then move on to another. I still remember the first lady I met who was fluent in five languages and had just learnt her 6th in a very short period of time. She said it was so easy to learn #6. It gets easier as you go. My mouth dropped open. I didn't know it could be done, and now I've met other ordinary people who have done the same. Why bother learning another language? If you broadened your horizons beyond English, and you could speak Chinese, Russian and Spanish you'd be able to speak with a huge portion of the people who share earth with you. Do you think it's possible some of those people might just have something very valuable they could share with us - oh yeah - that is if we could speak with them - really speak with them. I've been told that the earth has 3 main commercial languages: English (the internet speaks English), Spanish and German. However, they aren't the only languages valuable for commerce. In fact, any time you see a business opportunity with another language group, you could say it has a commercial value to you. Has the company you are affiliated with begun a business relationship with another country? If it's a new relationship, it's a pretty good guess that not too many in the company speak that language fluently yet. Could there be an advantage to you and your company if you took on the challenge? Would your children have a greater leveraging tool, when seeking employment, if they could speak more than one language? But those points may not be the biggest factor in your decision. Are you wanting to travel to see some historic sites in a particular part of the earth? Would you like to see some beautiful places that have a geography different from your own? What language(s) do they speak there? Do you think you'll get way more out of your travel if you speak the local language. Have you been studying about the history of the Roman Empire? Have you decided to go on a field trip to visit the monuments and sites to see it for yourselves? So you’re going to visit one or more of the North African or Near Eastern countries. How’s your Arabic? Or maybe you've learned some valuable information in your life. Do you have a message you'd like to get across to more people - maybe a minor language group in your area? What languages are in your area? Here in Ontario, Canada, I got a flyer from the cable television company in January 2006, telling me they offer tv stations in these languages: Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portugese, Punjabi, Russian, Tagalog, Tamil, Ukrainian, Urdu and Vietnamese. Why is that interesting? Because it tells me there must be a lot of people in Ontario who can speak these languages, since the cable company believes from a financial point of view that it is worth having these stations. It also tells me if I pick one of these languages to learn, I'll be able to tune in and hear native speakers having dialogues and practice understanding the language in real settings. Remember, other languages sometimes have segmented times in a day when they have foreign language programming on an otherwise English-speaking station. Which ones are in your area (IDEA!-research project for the kids)? There's also radio stations online that feature foreign languages. Does your country have an official second language like we do here in Canada - French? Do your local schools generally teach a particular second language - like Spanish if you live in Florida?
Do you have a friend, neighbor or family member who is fluent in another language who is actually willing and able to teach you or help you with your pronunciation?
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