Why You Should Study a Foreign Language

Reasons to Study a Foreign Language

• You should study a foreign language to expand your knowledge and understanding of various culturally rooted attitudes and behaviors. By gaining access to this knowledge from the inside, by understanding and actively using the target language, you foster an appreciation for diverse attitudes and cultural practices, which in turn breeds tolerance of others.
• It is through language that people communicate with each other. When you study a foreign language, you begin to see the rich ways in which humans use language to communicate and to preserve their individual and collective histories.  
• Studying a foreign language will help increase your sensitivity to nuances associated with linguistic usage. Oftentimes, these nuances are key to gaining insight into how people living within specific societies function.
• Acquiring fluency in a foreign language will help you to appreciate national and international politics in a way that monolingual individuals often cannot.
• Law schools, graduate programs and competitive employers often require knowledge of a foreign language.