Despite  7,139 total languages in the world, according to the Linguistic Society of America, many people only know one. In a growing world that continues to develop new languages and cultures, it continues to become increasingly special and important to know how to speak different languages. 

In today’s world, many people believe that learning a new language is not as important as it seems. In reality, as more people continue to move and travel all over the world, learning more languages is becoming more important. Dr. Carmen Brown was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain and her first language is Spanish. After moving to the United States and becoming a Spanish teacher, she received her doctorate in language and continues to invigorate the culture of her hometown within the students of America. Brown was teacher at Delone Catholic High School for 30+ years, and my personal teacher for Spanish classes for all four years of my high school career. I was able to chat with her about the importance of knowing other languages and what it can mean for the world in the future. “Learning a new language is a wonderful benefit in a globalized world. Improve your language skills, build confidence and deeper understanding of other cultures and people. Also improve your career opportunities for the future,” Brown said.

Putting emphasis on learning a new language, Brown explains how easy it was for her to learn English after growing up in Spain. “I had English classes in high school, then at the university level.  I spent three months in England to learn the language and the culture.” After putting in the time and effort to learn a new language, it can become a useful tool for traveling the world and getting employed.

As tourism rises throughout the world, and refugees from other nations move into other countries, having some minor knowledge of languages from around the world would be helpful for the expansion of life. Granted, with the internet becoming more useful and intelligent, being able to use translators or voice apps to communicate with one another in our own languages truly helps those efforts.

In the end, learning a new language can not only help with interacting with others within your community or country, but can help us learn about new cultures and the world around us that we may not have already known.