I must admit I have a little bit of bias (grew up in a household that taught me both), but in my opinion, I don't think there are enough posts endorsing the benefits of language learning. Obviously being able to communicate with more people goes without saying, but there are some things that I've learned about myself during my linguistic journey.

So where am I now? I can speak English as well as anyone, I don't have trouble communicating in Spanish but I'm not as comfortable with it as English (got cocky and stopped practicing), I studied Italian in high school and have kept up with it somewhat, and I've ventured into Japanese, Portugese, German and French. Currently I work at a company owned by Israelis, so I'm now hearing a lot of Hebrew.

From the observations of myself:

  1. It's made me much more interested in the other cultures in the world. One way to practice speaking a language is to experience it being spoke. Books and programs are your bread and butter, but hearing people speak it in daily conversation helps you understand the accent, cadence and inflection. With that being said, it's great to watch something like a newscast because you get to hear how the language is natively spoken. Of course, nothing beats hearing it spoken in person or actually having a conversation, but work with what you got.

  2. It's helped with my English. Before, I used to have a tendency to ramble on and on about something. I've noticed most Americans aren't efficient with their words. They need 15 words to get to a point when it could have been done in 5. Adding to that, it forces to not speak so lazy. I don't know what it is, but many people manage to speak English well enough without using their mouth fully. They're able to move their mouth and tongue enough to get the words out, likely to sound sloppy. There's no speaking lazy with other languages, you sound like a complete idiot if you try saying 'reloj' without rolling your R's. Also rolling your R's is believed to help with cunnilingus, but we still have it under review.

  3. The confidence you gain from it is unlike no other. Obviously, you're acquiring a new skill, one that is going to make you more accessible to an whole nother group of women, but I personally took enjoyment in practicing speaking the language with a certain character or flair. One in particular is speaking Italian and imaging yourself as an opera singer. No I didn't hold notes, but I was changing my inflections and cadences to a certain rhythm. It helped me instill how much more important it is to speak in a certain way period.

Oh yeah and...

  1. It turns girls the fuck on.

What are your guys thoughts?