dilluns, 1 de novembre del 2010

Foreign languages: important or a waste of time?


By Victoria Englert and Laia Esquerrà

Many people think that learning a language isn’t worth the time spent but it all depends on the country you come from. In Spain people are not interested in learning many languages; they do fine just speaking Spanish. English people think the same way, as do Italians. In central Europe children start studying foreign languages at a very young age and thus acquire the habit of learning languages and taking them into account. They are also known for taking part in exchanges and showing interest in other cultures.

Languages help one to develop as a person. A knowledge and consideration of different cultures helps one to be open-minded when it comes to thinking and taking decisions. One has not one, but various traditions to draw on, while one can communicate better with other people and make friends from many different countries.

People who deny themselves the luxury of learning all these things are usually people who speak a major language, for example: Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, English, Portuguese...

We think languages are important and not a waste of time. It is true that people who have not been interested in languages for many generations now have greater problems because they are not used to them, but they are a great investement.

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