If you’re coming to the time in your life when you need to choose what you’re going to study at University and you’re still open to ideas, then you should seriously consider studying a foreign language as part of your degree.

 

‘Studying a language as part of your degree opens you up to a whole new world.’ Ana Martín from Lingo Press Books

When choosing what subjects you want to study at degree level, learning a foreign language is becoming more and more popular. Both on its own and as part of a dual degree or even just for a module or semester.

Here are three great reasons why you should consider taking a language as part of your degree course.

 

The chance to live and study abroad

If you take a language as part of your degree, then you will almost always get the opportunity to study abroad. If you are young, then living abroad for a time can be your first real experience of independence. You will get to experience a new culture, see amazing things, and you will really have to learn how to manage on your own, because if something goes wrong, your parents aren’t going to be there to help you. You really will have to figure out how

Of course some would say that you can just go to a foreign university to study abroad but this doesn’t work for everyone. By studying a foreign language in your own country at university, you get to go to a university near your friends and family in a culture you understand, while getting the opportunity to go abroad for a semester or a year. This way you get to experience living and studying abroad without committing to three or more years of it.

The country you’d also be likely to travel to would probably be very different from your own, given the fact that they speak a completely different language.  Which means that on your year or semester abroad, you’ll be able to experience a completely different culture, which is a great way to open your eyes to the different cultures in your own country.

 

Increase your chances of employment

If there are two people who have studied law, but one of them has also studied and can now speak German, then the person who has learnt German has probably got a higher chance of being employed.

Even if you don’t need a language as part of your job, an employer will always be impressed at the fact you have managed to learn a foreign language. And that’s because learning a language demonstrates many qualities about yourself. First it demonstrates that can commit to something and see it through, it also shows that you’re either an intelligent person or someone who is willing to work hard. Finally it shows that you are open to different cultures and ideas which can be very important in the world of work, especially in the modern day.

 

You will be able to speak a second language

Let’s not forget the most useful thing that will come from taking a language as part of your degree. At the end of it you will be able to speak a foreign language, maybe not to the same extent as a native speaker but you will still be able to communicate and express yourself in a language that is not your native language.

That in itself is surely enough of a reason to consider taking a foreign language. Being able to speak a foreign language opens up a whole different world. You can talk to people you otherwise might not have been able to talk to, you can travel to new places, have amazing experiences. And on top of that a language is just very useful for your own personal development.

Learning a second language can help with cognitive development, memory retention and will make learning another language easier in the future. Not to mention that learning a second language will allow you to connect and communicate with a whole new group of people.

So there you have it; three great reasons to consider taking a foreign language as part of your degree. English may be the lingua franca, and technology may be advancing to make translating easier and easier, but in an ever more global world, learning a language is just as important as it ever had been before.