Do you think it's important to learn a foreign language?

Yes. English isn’t my mother tongue, and I’m here.

Beside with English I can access more information as many information sources aren’t written in my mother tongue.

Absolutely. Conrad Hilton, the founder of the Hilton Hotels, discovered this in his early years of starting the chain. After owning a handful of hotels in America, he traveled to Mexico to secure another deal. When the transaction was completed, it struck him how nice it felt to have new friendships with people in another country. This idea developed into a vision for the company: World Peace Through Travel and Trade.

The world is becoming ‘smaller’ as more people travel and relocate. Without some understanding of how to speak the native language, one misses the opportunity to fully appreciate the culture.

Definitely. Understanding another language almost gets you right into the mind of another people. You begin to hear and understand all-important nuances, and the intentions behind humor, etc., things that get lost in translation. It gives you a much better understanding of another’s culture. Another language inevitably gives you a much better understanding and wider usage of your own.

I’ve felt for a long time that one of the requirements for a bachelor’s degree should be to spend one of the four years studying at a university abroad (continuing one’s major) in a stable land with a different language and, preferably, different style of government and economy. If a nation considers itself a major player, it should enable it’s future generation to understand the world it is living in. Also, I don’t know too many students who would refuse such an opportunity.

I agree with all that’s been said above. I would add that it takes a certain type of mental discipline to learn another language. That’s why Latin and Classical Greek were required in universities up until fairly recent times.

Yes, I think it’s important.
Unfortunately, I never have. I was very poor in both math and language when I was young.

Ditto for me, @ibstubro. I couldn’t even learn enough Hebrew to be bar mitzvahed or learn to read music, both of which I dearly regret. I do believe learning other languages is important in this inter-connected world.

In most cases, and especially in such a large and (mostly) culturally and linguistically homogeneous country as the USA it’s not “vital” – as in “necessary to continue life” – but it can still be important in cultural and economic ways to improve one’s own and one’s family and neighborhood.

And when your business (or refugee status) demands that you adopt a new language or get left behind, it actually can be vital.

@ibstubro It’s never too late to learn, take it at your own pace you’ll get there in the end..it’s important , fun, and can open up so many doors for you..maybe you’ll give it another go.

@Yetanotheruser yes you are spot on it does take mental discipline indeed..i learned Spanish, French, and now learning Italian which i found harder than the other two but it’s also fun.

@CWOTUS You bring up an interesting point, and I’d like to flip it. As an American who entered the hotel industry at an early age, there were job applications rejected because I didn’t speak a second language (Washington, DC area). After finally finding one, I quickly realized why. Not only were a fair amount of guests from different countries, but so was the majority of the staff.

@CWOTUS Absolutely… the one thing i learned is just how many doors learning another language can indeed open for you.

It’s got to be a useful language. When I went to school our options were French or shop class. I went with shop. Knowing how to fix something is a heck of a lot more useful to me than that language.

Yes, it’s very important in today’s small world.

Funny, I retain a lot of the Spanish I learned in the 8th grade.
I think a lot of the value of learning a language is in the process itself. Another learning/problem solving tool that can be applied to other areas of your life.

if you want to have an international career and lifestyle… Yes . If you are content living in your own little world where everyone speaks the same language. No.

IT all depends what kind of life you want.

It also depends though on what is your main language. I think as English speakers we are lucky our language is the dominant language , so we can almost go anywhere in the world and get along.

However by learning another language, you do open yourself up to a world of possibilities, all kinds of friends etc. It can make your life exciting. Especially if you want to go live in that language. e.g Just think of all the non-native English speakers that have English speaking spouses. They would probably never have met their spouse if they hadn’t learned English growing up.

IT all depends what you want out of life.

Not everyone is adventurous. Some people are comfortable in the surroundings they grew up in and some more adventurous.

Yes, a key that opens many doors.

Obviously foreign language is important for everyone to communicate with different types of people.Despite all the reasons you’ve very likely heard about the benefits of learning another language – good for your degree, good for your travels, good for your career – some people seem to think that being multilingual isn’t all that important anymore.But it’s important & necessary.

Being fluent in more than one language is beneficial in multiple ways. Obviously it is worldview expanding because each language caries with it the worldview of its native speakers. It stretches & expands one’s mind in ways that are healthy. For avid readers, reading fluency in a foreign language opens up another world of books to read. Also, it seems like, for those aspiring to be accomplished professional chefs, French & Italian would be must learn languages because of the widespread influence both national cuisines have had on the entire world of food.

I’m in Europe. Being bilingual is a disadvantage because you only know two languages. One should and is expected to learn more than two.

Definitely. A must in today’s world. Sure rewarding!

As intelligent as our species claims to be, you’d think we could all just settle on one and forever expunge these language barriers. Unfortunately, there are just too many factors and variables at work for this to ever happen.

So until we are all sprinkled with magical, everyone-is-capable-of-cooperation..uh.. dust… learning another language opens doors, windows, and even walls.

@Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One I am firmly in the camp of the preservation of languages.

^^ Ditto.

@cazzie
I am as well actually – there are too many unique cultures and experiences to be had with the existing language barrier – why eliminate those?

The fact remains that some separation, linguistically or otherwise, isn’t necessarily a bad thing – one of the many, MANY factors/variables about which I was referring.

I travel and I have two languages. English and Norwegian. With Norwegian, I get Swedish and Danish for free (they are so close they are almost the same) and can understand some Dutch and German: What embarrasses me is that I don’t know enough French, Spanish and Italian.