Why study languages?

Worth the effort?

• “Everyone speaks English.”
• “The internet is all in English.”
• “I’m no good at languages”

None of these statements is convincing, but the production of excuses for not bothering to learn other languages is almost a national sport. The problem is that we are only convincing ourselves, and perhaps in our hearts we know that we are not even doing that.

The former German Ambassador – Dr Hans Friedrich von Plötz - gave a speech to Language College teachers two years ago, in which he made it clear, as politely as he could, that our European partners are tiring of it.

It is difficult to imagine anyone actually denying that it is good to speak a foreign language. Have you ever heard anyone say: “I wish I didn’t speak French”? So the question is whether the benefits outweigh the effort involved. The answer is yes, and contrary to popular belief they can come quite quickly. It is not necessary to be completely fluent to make a good impression. In business and social situations, using greetings competently and attempting the accent will get you much further than an apology. Once you get some confidence, you will find that you can speak at this level in more than one or two languages quite easily.

How hard is it? To master a language is difficult, but to achieve a working fluency enough to survive in the country is much less daunting. For some, this level of competence will be enough, while others will want to take a language to a high level.

But which should you choose? Probably you will want to learn a major language or two major languages. Different languages have different benefits. Japanese and Chinese may look difficult, but in some ways they are simpler than European languages. German is closer to English than you think. If you learn French or Spanish, you will be at an advantage when you come across related languages. Most people who learn French can make some sense of written Spanish, and to some extent this is also true of Italian and Portuguese. You cannot really go far wrong, as learning one language makes the second easier.

It is often said that the prevalence of English language films and pop music makes it easier for young people in other countries to learn English. To an extent this may be true, but the real difference is in motivation. Young people in other countries know that they will need a language other than their own, and in many cases that language will be English. Millions of people are learning English – it is true - but they are not learning it for our benefit. We know that British Airways has a policy of recruiting from where they can get people with more than one language, and other companies are likely to follow the trend. In fact, it is surprising how many companies we assume to be British are already foreign-owned. Increasingly, British young people will find themselves at a disadvantage if they have no language whatever to offer.

Language-learning is worth it! Go on! Make the effort!