Opening doors with language learning
Nigel Portwood
“It鈥檚 clear from these stories that language is more than the words in a book; it鈥檚 essential to how we express our beliefs and values, and how we share our ideas. It can also open the door to new opportunities, new perspectives, and new people.”
There鈥檚 no denying that learning a language can be challenging. It requires memorizing words and grammatical structures that aren鈥檛 familiar to you, having the confidence to speak in front of others, and persevering when you make mistakes, which is inevitable. It can be a daunting journey to embark on, but in those moments when you get it right鈥�when you find the words鈥攖he benefits of having a second language are enormous.
For example,聽聽found that students who speak more than one language have higher career and educational expectations than those who are monolingual. Language learning has also been linked with聽聽such as developing an increased capacity for problem-solving and multi-tasking. Even in children as young as seven months, it can enhance the ability to聽鈥攁 skill increasingly necessary when navigating today鈥檚 uncertain world.
Recently, we asked our colleagues to share their own experiences of when they 鈥榝ound the words鈥� as part of聽. An extraordinary amount of people took part, recounting a time when language learning had clicked into place for them, and the impact this had on their lives. Here are just a few of the stories that were shared:
鈥淭he language learning journey is a little bumpy one. We learn, we forget, we try, we fail, and we succeed. I still remember the times I could incorporate new vocabulary or avoid the mistakes I insisted on doing. Such as pronouncing the word fifth (which I insisted on adding the second F and pronouncing the T), mispronouncing year and ear and the word certificate. The feeling of saying something right and being understood is great.鈥� –聽Selma Trus, Head of Regional Marketing (Americas), Brazil
鈥淚 remember the first time I travelled abroad on my own. I travelled to England. It was 2009. I was 27 at that time. I was so excited, so scared, and so away from home and from those teachers who taught me how to express myself in English, anxious to find the words to communicate with those strangers. I was there to teach Spanish. Coming from a rural community in Mexico, I just wanted to survive as a person and as a teacher. But those words learnt at University with those dictionaries and those coursebooks helped me to find the words to make my first friend there and to connect with those pupils who saw me trying to find the words to share knowledge about my own language, Spanish, and my own culture. Learning English as a second language changed my life forever.鈥� –聽Margarito Jacome, Educational Consultant, Mexico
鈥淟earning English seemed very artificial to me for the first few years – answering questions for the text that has just been read. I was so happy when my parents bought an English course for me and I could live with a local family. At last I was speaking because I wanted to communicate something! Finding the right words to tell my landlady what I would like to eat for breakfast, how was my day on a course was so much fun for me. When I got back home I was a different person – not so worried about mistakes when I was speaking. Now I was concentrated on finding the words to be understood and every successful conversation was such a pleasure!鈥� –聽El偶bieta 艢wi臋cicka, Senior ELT Consultant, Poland
鈥淚’m Italian, I’ve been living in Oxford since 2004 and I still get very excited when I learn a new English word. Usually I need to pick up an Italian book before going back home as my sister put it “I forgot Italian”: all languages are constantly evolving therefore we are constantly learning.鈥� –聽Lilia Bonacorsi, Ebook and Digital Products Executive, UK
It鈥檚 clear from these stories that language is more than the words in a book; it鈥檚 essential to how we express our beliefs and values, and how we share our ideas. It can also open the door to new opportunities, new perspectives, and new people. With 2bn people learning English and that number only set to grow, language learning is an important skill for bringing together different cultures and communities and forging connections through a common language.聽