Should you Learn the Local Language Before Studying in Certain Countries?

Language is a major tool that helps people communicate and express themselves. It is also a significant part of a culture. Native or local languages have ancestral and historic values cherished by the people of a community. If you are a study abroad student, then learning the local language spoken at your dream destination can benefit you in a lot of ways. Let’s unravel them through this blog!

Should you Learn the Local Language before studying in Certain Countries?

It’s almost time for admissions, and many students prefer to travel overseas to study abroad, to explore new places, people, and new cultures. One of the top study-abroad countries is France, Spain, and Germany where they have their own native languages like French, Spanish, and German. Exploring a new and unique culture means learning a new language as well. But why not spend a couple of minutes a day learning just the basics of the native language being spoken in the country where you are going to study? You don’t have to learn the whole language in a week or a month. You could just learn some of the basics to understand the country or the town better and to navigate yourself within the local areas around your destination. There are many reasons why you should learn the local language before studying in a country, they are:

• You get treated well by the locals if you know their language
• You could have interesting and short conversations with people
• You can understand signs around the place or your institution
• You get connected to local culture and learn to appreciate it 
• You can make yourself understood well in extreme situations
• You could also pursue a career in the language if you are interested 

Here are some quick tips on – How to Learn a New Language?

Five Advantages of Learning the Local Language

Here are the 5 major reasons for learning local languages before starting your study abroad journey:

1. Learning the Local Language Can Make Life Simpler

You will be able to manage daily activities and routines in the country after you learn the language. There are also ways in which life can become simpler if you learn the language. On a regular basis, think of all the minor experiences you have like navigating, asking and giving directions, or using mass transit. Once they are in a different language, those routine interactions would be a bit difficult. When a cashier inquires, “Did you manage to find everything alright?”, you can fail to understand them. 

Don’t get scared about that. That’s part of the learning curve, and if you learn, it’ll become incredibly easy fast. You’ll become a pro when traveling the subway after stumbling for a while, offering directions, and perhaps even being mistaken as a local. 

Must Read: How to Become a Language Translator

2. Language Is the Best Way to Experience the Culture

Language and culture have also been identified as indistinguishable and they have a deeply complicated relationship. Language is not only the true measure of words, linguistic concepts, and creation of sentences but also special cultural values, societal structures, and processes of comprehension. You understand what the goals of a nation are as you learn the tales behind the language. That’s when society starts to understand you. You can learn, hear and reflect about a culture, but hearing its natural language is the best way to profoundly understand a culture.

3. Learning a New Language is a Beneficial Move

The process of learning a foreign language helps human brains in several aspects. French, German and Spanish are one of the best foreign languages to learn in this aspect. It enhances memory, boosts imagination and improves the capacity to solve problems. It has also been proven that learning a foreign language enhances your cognitive skills while helping to stave off dementia as you grow old. You also benefit from learning a foreign language in the corporate world.The more languages you know, the more commercially viable you become in this rapidly global business environment. Getting linguistic skills on your application will make prospective employers select you.

4. Learning a New Language Will Help You Connect with Native Speakers Always

Even if you have finished your course in an institution abroad and come back to your home country, if you know the language of your study abroad country and people from there come to visit or you go somewhere else, you can always strike up a conversation in that language to the speakers. If you speak a multi-national language, such as Spanish or French, you will be able to adapt the knowledge you have acquired in one nation to some other area where people speak the local language. 

For example, if you had gone to Germany for your higher studies and you learned the language there and you are back and you see a German struggling to converse in your language. You could always help him out. As a speaker of another native language, you can get acquainted with thousands of people all around the country easily. The more fluent you become in this language, the more you can connect to people all over the world!

5. Learning a New Language Helps You Befriend People

The world is filled with awesome people. But not many of these people can be English speakers. If you’ve the necessary skills for day-to-day interaction, you can open up your opportunity to speak to dozens of new people! When you understand the local language, people you will meet every day have the opportunity of becoming your future business partner, your closest friend, or your soul mate. 

When you learn how to interact with natives, you understand their lives, interests, and aspirations, and how much they’ve become the people they are today. You come to realize that these individuals are much more than a representation of a stereotype. They’re individuals with narratives.

So, we hope that these advantages encourage you to learn that language you’ve always been wanting to learn. Making preparations for language proficiency exams such as IELTS or TOEFL? Our Leverage Live experts are all here to help you develop the perfect training plan, use the best study materials and a doubt clearing session as your comprehensive test preparation! Register for a demo session today!