The Benefits of Bilingualism
Learning a second language has many cognitive benefits. For example, it has been shown to delay Alzheimer's, boost brainpower, reduce cognitive biases, and even increase concentration and the ability to tune out distractions. But, more so than cognitive effects, the ability to speak a second language has a ton of social benefits. There's bliss in having the ability to order food in the waiter's native language, to eavesdrop on people in an elevator, or to impress natives by speaking with and understanding them.
The coolest thing about learning your second language is that it makes learning a third, fourth, or fifth language much easier. The challenge isn't in learning a new language, but rather learning how to learn a language. Once you know the techniques, you'll be able to apply the same grammatical patterns and language techniques in every new language you learn.
Why Most People Are Wrong About Language Learning
I studied Spanish for several years in high school, and even got good grades on national exams. But one day, when I actually tried to speak the language, I suddenly realized: four years of studying Spanish in school, and I couldn't even order a burrito. So what went wrong? According to official standardized tests, I was an expert in Spanish. But I couldn't even do the most basic of tasks!
The fact is that we are not taught languages in the ideal way. Students study languages in huge groups and think that a few worksheets and grammar exercises will be enough to learn a language. Yet almost no one actually learns to speak. In actuality, by doing worksheets, we are practicing for just that—doing worksheets. But if you want to learn to speak, well, you actually have to practice by speaking.
So when people try to learn to speak a language out of a book, or with Rosetta Stone, I try to show them that they won't achieve their goals that way. If you want to speak, you have to practice speaking. And if you want to speak a language rapidly, well, you have to start speaking. A lot.
