Sounds Like Greek to Me

This is one of the oldest idioms on the book.  But today, it's turning out to be true.  Everyone has heard a language that they didn't understand.  Some estimates state that there are up to 7,000 different languages.  And those are just foreign languages and probably don't include the many different dialects or versions of a language that are spoken from town to town.  I'm sure that we will never truly know how many languages exist, especially with the many undiscovered people groups in Africa.

While most of us will never hear anyone ask us "Si jeni?" ("How are you?" in Albanian), we may see a Spanish soap opera on TV or French instructions in a manual.  Some people are able to simply change the channel or ignore the words. People like myself, however, were born with a natural curiosity to understand the unknown and learn more about it. That's why foreign languages have always intrigued me, because they have the power to connect us to the unknown.  But learning a foreign languages isn't just something to do if you're bored.  It can be very useful.

A quick look in the newspaper, at a product in a store or a trip outside will reveal that non-English languages are becoming very popular in the United States.  Spanish is perhaps the language that is growing the fastest.  Many states have laws that require that require ballots to be printed in both English and Spanish.  Spanish now appears everywhere on ads and products and most major companies announce that they accept Spanish customers.  In a world where English doesn't dominate the people, people that only know English will be left out.  I know that I don't want to be the guy that is left out, so I'm going to start my language adventures early.

What I've Gained

The decision to study a new language has blessed me greatly.  I chose to study both French and Spanish in my years at school.  That decision is one that I would gladly make again and again.  I now know many great and useful things.

In my life, I have made multiple leisure trips to Spain and one to France and Italy.  Most of the people I traveled with did not speak any foreign languages.  To be honest, I felt bad for them because I was able to communicate easily with the locals and was able to find my way around much easier.  The language allowed me to gain much more out of trip than just a few of some fancy monuments.  Even when I didn't know every word that I needed, I was able to communicate with others and get my point across with the vocabulary that I had.  It was a lot of fun being able to understand someone speaking in another language.

Also, knowing a second language is helpful when looking for jobs.  If you apply for a job and all of the candidates have the same qualifications, you will get the job just for knowing an extra language.  A great deal of new jobs are opened up when you can speak a new language.  Jobs are now available in translation and communications.  For those interested in a medical field, a new language can be helpful, since most medical terms are derived from a non-English language.

Whatever your motivation is, I would encourage you to pursue it.  Knowing something new certainly won't do any harm.  Best wishes and have fun!

I'm Ready to Learn!

The decision to learn a new language is an important one because a new language can open doors that most people never knew existed.  Learning a new language can be a fun and enriching experience.  Many people though, stop at the wishing step.  They want to learn, they are capable of learning, yet they never master a new language.  Perhaps, they went the wrong direction with their dream.

Any quick Google search on the subject yields thousands of results and it's easy to get lost with all the possibilities.  Some of the things will work, others with fail.  Some will thrill you and others will bore you to tears.  To make the best decision, it may be a good idea to look at all the possibilities.  Formal classes are great for those in school, but taking one outside of school can be expensive and time consuming.  Reading a language dictionary will teach you more words than you will ever need to know and will invariably waste your time.  If you're someone who needs to be able to set your own learning times, maybe a language learning software might be right for you.  Here are a few places that might help to get you started:
• French Information
• German Information
• Spanish Information

Whatever method you may choose, the key is to not give up.  Languages can be easy to learn and at other times they can be difficult.  Perseverance is the key word here, as it is with many things in life.  With languages, the risks are great, but the rewards will bless you for a lifetime.