The Benefits of Learning a Second Language

Written by: Ivonne Escorcia

Learning a second language is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who has the chance to do so.  Being bilingual opens doors not only in the student’s future career but in everyday life as well.  With the globalization of the world’s economy, it brings diverse cultures and communities into more frequent contact with each other.  Also, with the internet and travel being easier for most people the barriers of distance have been broken down and different cultures are more accessible.  Therefore, learning another language is essential to a student’s development.

​Many studies have shown that learning a second language can improve a child’s educational development by enhancing their problem-solving skills, helping with their long and short term memory, making them more flexible and creative in their thinking and teaching them to multi-task. This is very helpful to students because it will not only help them to learn a second language, but it will also help them to improve their first language and how they perform in their other subjects as well.

​Another benefit of learning a second language is that it makes traveling easier.  If they travel and know the language of another country, it will make their travel experience more enjoyable because they will be able to read the signs and communicate with the local people.  Which will give them a better opportunity to learn more about the culture of the place they are visiting.

​The last benefit of learning a second language is it will give them a lift as they enter the workforce.  If a person is bilingual, they have more opportunities to find a good position. And now that most large companies have branches or at least customers in other countries knowing a second language will give them that extra something that most employers are looking for.

​For these reasons I believe that everyone should try to learn a second language if they have the opportunity to do so.  I believe that LIA is the perfect place for students to learn English as a second language since we have four different levels each student can receive individualized attention.  I have worked here for four years,and I am proud to be a part of the English department.