Why Should I Learn Another Language?

"Language is a key to opening minds and attitudes. To speak, read, write and understand another language is the beginning of understanding other people." Senator Paul Simon, The Tongue-Tied American, 1980

Learning a second language

• Helps develop higher-order, abstract, creative, and critical thinking

• Leaves students with more flexibility in thinking and greater sensitivity to language

• Improves student understanding of his/her native language

• Gives the student the ability to communicate with people he/she would otherwise not have the chance to know

• Opens the door to other cultures and helps in understanding and appreciating other countries and cultures

• Provides language requirements for college

• Increases job opportunities

Why is Studying a Foreign Language Worthwhile?

• The learning of new vocabulary in Spanish will help you to do better on the SAT. In 1992, the College Board reported that students who averaged four or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test than those who had studied four or more years in any other subject area. 

• Proficiency in a foreign language will give you access to a greater number of career possibilities and allow you to communicate with more people in your future career.

• Through the study of a foreign language, you will become increasingly aware of the influence of different cultures in the United States. Knowledge of a foreign language broadens our understanding of "how, when, and why to say what to whom."  

• Fluency in other languages enhances economic competitiveness abroad, improves communication, and maintains political and security interests.