WHY IS IT iMPORTANT TO LEARN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES?

Question

please be serious & specific

Answer 1

Cummins' research concluded that the development of competence in the native language serves as a foundation of proficiency that can be transposed to the second language—the common underlying proficiency hypothesis. His work sought to overcome the perception propagated in the 1960’s that learning two languages were two competing aims. The belief was that the two languages were mutually exclusive and that learning a second required unlearning elements and dynamics of the first in order to accommodate the second (Hakuta, 1990). The evidence for this perspective relied on the fact that errors in acquiring the second language were related to the rules of the first language (Hakuta, 1990). Clearly, how this Hypothesis holds under different types of languages such as Romance versus non-Western languages has yet to undergo research. While this hypothesis would thus support the Sequential Model, how robust this model under languages of diverse origins would threaten this logic.

Another new development that has influenced the linguistic argument for bilingual literacy is the length of time necessary to acquire the second language. While previously children were believed to have the ability to learn a language within a year, today researchers believe that within and across academic settings, the time span is nearer to five years (Collier, 1992; Ramirez, 1992).

An interesting outcome of studies during the early 1990s however confirmed that students who do successfully complete bilingual instruction perform better academically (Collier, 1992; Ramirez, 1992). These students exhibit more cognitive elasticity including higher analytic performance of abstract visual patterns. Students who receive bidirectional bilingual instruction where equal proficiency in both languages is required perform at an even high level. Examples of such programs include international schools and multi-national education schools such as French-American, Korean-American, and Swiss-American schools.

Answer 2

I come from an Italian family, my grand parents came from Italy and spoke little English so we grew up speaking both English and Italian, When I was about 6 we got a maid who spoke Spanish, and she taught us kids to speak Spanish. In high school I became interested in Germany their customs and language so I learned German.
I work as a Registered nurse, Most of my career has been in the emergency room. and speaking several languages has come in very handy when dealing with patients who do not speak English.
And I have been called to other floors of the hospital to translate.
I think it is good for you as a person because it gives you a diversified understanding of people and languages.
Plus it also helps when you are looking for a job. Especially one where you deal with people from different countries and back grounds.
I tried to learn Chinese, I was really quite interest in it. But I could not catch on to the language, and did not have the time to devote to it.
I hope this gives you some of the information you are looking for.
I guess in the end, the most important part would be for when you are looking for employment.

Answer 3

Because! Every country has different cultures and people who speak a different language. If you know another language it will be a lot easier in life. You may never know, it could be a life or death situation that you need their language. Plus, you don't have to learn a new language.

Answer 4

Why not? It is a useful skill to have. French for example is spoken in nearly a third of the world and is the language of diplomacy, United Nations, and the Olympic Games. It also means you can go to places where these languages are spoken and have no trouble communicating. It makes moving to another country easier, especially if you want to work there.

Answer 5

It is important to to learn a foreign language in order to better understand people of the place when it is gone in vacation to the foreign country, or for professional reasons, or in order to only know persons of other countries and cultures. They are all good reasons in order to learn one foreign language! The acquaintance of the languages can improve the own perspectives of job.

Answer 6

All languages are "made up". Some languages represent Divinity, Universal Truth, etc in much interesting visual form than others, because they have had much more "time to live". English is only 100 year old, but it will survive for it has Tamil backing (English has been derived from Tamil)

Answer 7

In my opinion it's rather odd that we as Americans should have to learn Spanish to conform to (especially illegal) immigrants. However, that's the way the ball rolled, so a lot of times it's required, and sometimes convenient, that we know Spanish. It seems we're not required to learn any other language in the US, because the majority of foreigners are Hispanic. It should be noted, however, that I'm not against Mexicans. I'm not against some being in America. I've been to Mexico, and I understand why a lot of them would want to come to America. I would if I were in their shoes. What I am against is illegal immigrants. I hope this answers your question although it was mostly my personal opinion.

Answer 8

To be able to communicate with other people out of your own country, for instance, I'm Spanish and live in Spain, as I have learned English, now I'm communicating with you, isn't it? My English isn't perfect, but you may understand me, don't you?

And, of course, some languages are more useful than others, for instance, I'm a programmer and most manuals of programming languages are in English, so, for me it's an advantage to speak English...

Answer 9

it is important to learn different languages `cos it gives you an advantage over other people when looking for a job.you can also communicate with other people if you intend going to a foreign country.you can live a better life when you understand and can communicate with other people,you can get job opportunities and you know that knowledge is power and is always use full.

Answer 10

I know three languages, and the reasons are those:
1. my first language is an unwritten dialouge, and by speaking it, i help it survive.
2. my second language, German, is also important to my culture. Most of our religous teachings, our people's history, is written in German, and by speaking it, i also help it survive.
3. I know English because i need it to communicate with my whole country, and it is very important to know in the growing world.