How Language Learning Changed My Life for the Better

If you’re on the fence about learning a new language, let me share a bit of my journey.

Over the past few years, I’ve dived into learning two languages – Chinese and Korean.

Each one has been an incredible experience, full of challenges, cultural insights, and new connections. Learning each language has taught me so much more than vocabulary and grammar.

I’ve seen my cognitive skills sharpen, my memory improve, and my confidence soar as I’ve become more comfortable navigating different cultural contexts.

So, if you’re curious about how learning a second language could change your life, here’s a deep dive into some of the best benefits.

Let’s explore why stepping into a new language can truly be one of the most rewarding adventures you’ll ever take!

Reason 1 – It BOOSTS your BRAIN Power

Reason 2 – It will BROADEN your HORIZONS

Reason 3 – It will ENHANCE your CAREER

Reason 4 – It will get you a HIGHER SALARY

Reason 5 – Meeting a SPECIAL SOMEONE

Reason 6 – COMMUNICATE as you TRAVEL

Reason 7 – IMPROVE Your MEMORY

Reason 8 – Improve Your NATIVE LANGUAGE Skills

Reason 9 – Become a Better MULTI TASKER

Reason 10 – Access FOREIGN LANGUAGE MEDIA

Reason 11 – Make NEW FRIENDS

Reason 12 – Develop NEW SKILLS

Learning Multiple Languages || FAQs

1. It Boosts Brain Power

Learning a second language exercises your brain, and improves your memory and attention span – which has been great for my otherwise terrible memory!

While acquiring a new language, in fact, your brain will naturally analyse and process the new linguistic structures and identify the best techniques to assimilate its syntax and semantic details.

My Mandarin Chinese is better than my Korean, but I’m still a long way from fluency.

This means when I have to explain new concepts, ideas or even things, I have to find creative ways to express what I want to say.

Whether that’s describing the Statue of Liberty as ‘the extremely tall green lady in New York’ or a ring as ‘that thing with diamonds that you put on fingers’ – I’ve had to come up with a fair few creative ways to describe things!

This surely has been a boost for my problem-solving skills!

2. It Broadens Your Horizons

Knowing more than a language not only can make your holidays and experiences abroad easier by allowing you to speak with locals or other foreigners, it will also change your perspective and the way you view the world around you.

I lived in China for around a year before investing time into learning the language (shameful, I know!), but once I started being able to interact locals more meaningfully, it really changed how I saw the country.

It meant suddenly being invited to dinners, birthday parties and even weddings!

👉 Meeting and talking with native speakers is an essential component of the learning process and it will add so much more meaning to the language.

I really believe being able to converse in Mandarin (and later, Korean!) helped me embrace new cultures with a lot more empathy and open-mindedness, almost like learning a new language gives you a new blank slate to learn from.

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3. It Will Enhance Your Career

This is one of the best benefits of learning a second language

As nowadays more and more companies are expanding their business internationally.

Being able to communicate in multiple languages makes a candidate more attractive than others who can only speak their native one.

After all, had I not started learning languages, I wouldn’t be writing this blog for LTL right now!

I’ve had friends edge ahead of other foreigners in the job market with their language skills and secure jobs in sales, marketing and export in several cities across China and Korea.

Furthermore, speaking another language conveys that you are a goal-oriented, highly motivated, and resourceful person, all skills that can differentiate you as a valuable asset to your prospective employers.

4. It Will Help Boost Your Salary

As bilingual and multilingual employees are higher in demand than those who can just speak one language, they can earn up to 10 to 15% earn more money on average than monolingual speakers.

Of course, some languages are more lucrative to learn than others.

As shown in Becky Barr’s article Highest Paid Languages Of 2017…

Japanese and the Chinese languages were named the most lucrative non-English tongues for UK job seekers” followed by French, German and Arabic.

So, what are you waiting for?

Choose the foreign language that inspires you the most, stop making excuses, and start learning!

5. Meeting a Special Someone

There’s a lot of people on this planet. More than 8 billion billion to be precise!

That said, speaking just one language limits your options for communication with a vast number of people, depending on your 1st language of course.

Now if there’s one language you could learn that opens up more doors than any in the world, it’s Mandarin.

Why? Pretty obvious right…

Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world – over 1 billion overall.

Simple maths tells you that speaking Mandarin opens the door to roughly 12.5% of the whole population in the world.

🩷 As for my experience? Well a lady never kisses and tells… but I have been able to go on a few multilingual dates in China and put my Mandarin to the test!

You never know, learning that extra language might lead to meeting a very special someone…

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6. Communicate and Travel

We’ve all been there…

You want to get something simple like a bottle of water, but just shouting WATER (in your language of course) generally won’t do you any good.

How much easier your life would be if you knew how to ask for a bottle of water and spoke in the native language?

It’s true… your life becomes a whole lot easier!

Having the ability to be able to do the simple things, that we take for granted, makes a huge difference for everyday things.

Here are some examples:

• Navigating a taxi driver
• Asking if the dish you want has peanuts because you have a peanut allergy
• Asking a local where the nearest supermarket is
• Opening a bank account in China

The list is endless. It’s a huge benefit of learning a second language and should never be underestimated.

As for me? I’ll never forget my horror at trying to order a simple 拿铁 (Ná tiě; latte) in Taipei and being bombarded with questions about takeout vs eat-in, iced vs hot, sugar vs no sugar, normal ice vs less ice.

Stressful, but motivating enough to get back to the books!

7. Improve Your Memory

Storing some English, Italian, French and Chinese in your brain can’t be a bad thing right?

When switching between languages you are constantly digging into the memory bank which you have wisely expanded.

That being said, once or twice I have experienced the odd ‘byelingual’ phenomenon, in which you can’t remember a word in either language!

However, all the studies out there do seem to indicate that studying languages improves your overall brain performance.

One analysis even showed that students studying a second language perform better across other academic subjects, including science and maths.

8. Improve Your Native Language’s Skills

Wait a minute, by learning Chinese I improve my English?

You heard it here first!

By learning another language you sometimes come across words that even in English you are stumped by.

Odious, Arduous – what are they? I know them in Chinese but not English.

Quick research tells you the meanings and voila… you’ve just banked two new words to your native tongue that you never expected!

Sometimes you’ll even switch to another language to express your intended meaning more accurately.

👉 For example, ‘As long as you’re happy’ in English? Passive aggressive. But 你喜欢就好 (Nǐ xǐhuān jiù hǎo) in Mandarin? Warm and lighthearted!

9. Become Stronger at Multi-Tasking

Anyone who speaks more than one language every day will be able to relate to this.

Switching between languages takes mental strength in many cases. Speakers of 4+ languages will often joke about those awkward moments when they used a French word when embarking in a German conversation!

The point is, when learning that second language, you become much more adept at multi-tasking and switching between general day-to-day tasks.

Pretty cool, eh!

10. Gain Access to Foreign Language Entertainment Media

By learning a new language, you can then access all the TV shows, music, video games, books, comics, and movies available in that language that you can’t get in your native tongue!

As a bonus, you can also better understand media you may have been previously consuming in translation or with subtitles, and more deeply connect with it!

👉 Want to stick to your favourite shows? One of my favourite hacks is to change the voiceover of whatever show I’m watching to my target language and keep the English subs. It can feel odd at first, but you’ll adapt quickly!

I’m also a big fan of Mandarin language podcasts (there’s a lot out there designed for learners) and have started adding them to my bedtime routine.

11. Make New Friends

While love has already been mentioned, don’t forget platonic relationships!

Being able to communicate in a new language can help you meet so many more people to connect with over shared interests!

Additionally, you won’t only meet friends because you can speak their language (even if they can’t speak yours), you can also make friends with fellow language learners!

Oddly enough, I made just as many European and American friends as Chinese friends in some cities.

That being said, I did have to consciously be more proactive with Chinese friends so as to avoid falling into the infamous English-only ‘foreigner bubble’!

Other people are undoubtedly going to be learning the same language as you, and you can meet them in your language classes, through online forums, or even in language exchange groups.

The possibilities are endless!

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12. Develop New Skills

Language learning is a skill in and of itself, but what about the skills that go along with it?

Language learners all share a few traits in common – perseverance to come back to their second language day after day, commitment to continuously improving themselves, and a hunger for knowledge!

Additionally, many learners of a second language also possess strong time management skills, from balancing their work, family, and social commitments with their hobbies, like language learning.

Not only are these transferable skills (hello, resume boosters), but they’re also applicable to other areas of one’s life, like relationships.

During my spare time in China, I picked up calligraphy and Chinese chess and even took a cooking class in Mandarin! (I’ll blame my terrible result on my cooking skills, not my Chinese level… 👀)

So, want to improve and pick up lots of new skills?

Learn a second language!

Benefits Of Learning A Second Language || FAQs