Learning New Languages - 3 Reasons Why Learning a New Language is Such Fun

An important reason for me to keep learning new languages is that it is such good fun. Here are three factors that make learning a new language such a fun activity.

Reason 1: Challenging your brain

Learning a new language can give the same type of pleasure as you may have playing a game or solving a complicated puzzle. By learning to combine new words and construct new sentences, you challenge your brain to do something completely different from the "same old, same old" daily conversation in your mother tongue. When you get it right, it gives an immense feeling of achievement.

Reason 2: Getting to know people you could not interact with before

If you do not leave the world's major cities, you are most likely able to survive (i.e. get food and shelter) if you speak English. But if you do not speak your town's native language, you are missing out a tremendous lot of what is going on around you.

I remember staying over at my German friend's family in Bochum, Germany. Normally I speak English with my German friend, but his parents do not speak much of it. Fortunately, I speak conversational German as well, which allowed me to interact with the parents directly. This made my visit a lot less awkward than it would be if I my friend had to translate everything. Direct communication makes building a relationship a lot easier.

Reason 3: Expanding your world

If you only speak English, or you speak another mother tongue plus English, you may think you have covered the world quite well. The thing is, you have no idea what you are missing out on.

Do you think that Singapore is an English speaking country? My guess is that less than 50% of all conversations in Singapore happen in English. When I started learning Chinese, I found out that the Singapore Chinese generally speak Chinese among family and friends in Singapore. Before I started learning Chinese, I simply tuned out to those conversations happening in Chinese, and had no idea how prevalent the language is in Singapore.

Do you think that English is the only "lingua franca" in the world? I thought so myself. Until I worked alongside a French colleague, and found out she was always able to find French speaking people to work with, be it in New Delhi, Shanghai or Tokyo. All major cities have a significant francophone community, which usually include a sizable group of local enthusiasts for the language.

Another trend I see is that Mandarin is becoming more important as a "lingua franca" among non-Chinese Asians, such as Koreans and Japanese. This is especially the case for foreigners living in China itself.

So in short, learning a new language is a way to challenge your brain, but also to connect socially with new people, and to move into social circles you could never have been able to be a part of before.

If you wonder how to get started learning a new language, have a look at my blog at which I am sharing my insights and passion about language learning.

On our website yago.sg, we aim to bring together the best Singapore language courses.