The Importance of A Second Language

This week’s readings for inquiry were about why it is important to learn a second language.  One of the articles I read was titled Why Learn A Second Language.  One of the points the article made was about how the child’s parents plays a critical role and having their children learn a foreign language.  Kids look up to their parents and want to be like them.  As a result most of them will do what they are told is best for them.  If a child’s parents encourage them to take a foreign language they probably will listen.  Learning a foreign language also opens up an array of different job opportunities.  One field that particularly likes to have people speak a second language is business.  This is one of them most competitive fields and if you know a second language you will most likely have a leg up on the competition.  If you want to expand your company overseas you will most likely need someone to speak the dominant language of that country if you want to succeed.  Knowing a second language can also help with meeting new people and making new friends.  If you move to a different country and do not speak the language you will have trouble making new friends understanding the aspects of the culture.  Even if you are just vacationing in a different country, it could pay off to know the native language.  It will ultimately make your stay more fun.  A few summers ago my family and I took a trip to Mexico for my sister’s graduation.  As a high school student I took Spanish.  Even though I was not fluent in it I could still have conversations with people and do the simple things such as order food or tell the cab driver where we needed to go.