I just came across this great article from Patrick Mattimore, who is fluent in English and French. The first thing you’ll notice in the article is Patrick’s impressive daily efforts to help improve his French.
In the second part of the article he quotes a few eloquent reasons to learn French that I wanted to share with you:
“We also know from research and experience that acquiring another language makes students better problem solvers, unleashing their ability to identify problems, enriching the ways in which they search and process information, and making them aware of issues and perspectives that they would otherwise ignore.”
“Learners of languages, by exposing themselves to other cultures and institutional arrangements, are more likely to see differences of opinion and conflicts by approaching a problem from perspectives that incorporate the values and norms of others as well as their own. Knowledge of other languages also fosters tolerance and mutual understanding.”
“Learning a language exercises the mind and enriches the spirit. It is a fundamentally humbling process by which students learn that their culture and way of expressing it are relative, not absolute. That perspective makes them more open to other points of view, and more likely to avoid one-size-fits-all solutions to the problems of the world.”
The emphasis is mine, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
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Nice of Nic to refer to me as fluent in English and French. I’m certainly working on the French part but have a long ways to go. Nevertheless, it was really useful at times to speak French while I was in Italy this past weekend. Oh, and I’ve just completed a poem in French which I’m entering in a contest here.
Hello. Thank you for this great info! Keep up the good job!