Although I grew up in a bilingual household, I still live a life of duality where it’s English and American culture outside, and Farsi and Afghan culture at home with my family. But living my childhood with two languages and two cultures didn’t stop me from experiencing a long future of international studies. How I was raised has since motivated me to take on two more languages, French and Arabic, because I’ve seen and experienced the value of being able to easily switch from one language to another and adapt from one culture to the next without hesitation.
However, the reality is that many people don’t grow up with this ingrained multilingualism as I did. But this doesn’t mean they’re not capable of taking on the challenge of studying a new language or two. In the U.S. especially, being able to speak only English is the norm, and those who can comprehend another language are often seen to have this exoticism about them. I think this is the case because traditional language learning in American schools has always seemed tedious and intimidating. Students see all the books on grammar and lists of vocabulary that they believe they need to memorize to be able to hold a conversation. They view native speakers of these foreign languages as saints who have been blessed with an unfair advantage in life because they are able to speak something other than English. This daunting system and mindset has led so many people to feel discouraged about pursuing any sort of future in language studies.
Research done by the Modern Language Association shows a decline in American college students studying a foreign language from 2009 to 2013. Before 2009, there was a jump in language enrollment, but I think it was the financial crisis that we experienced six years ago that made people want to study within the fields that are known to guarantee high-paying jobs, usually excluding liberal art degrees. At the University of Oregon specifically, the most popular majors have consistently been within Bachelors of Science, degrees that don’t require any foreign language studies.
What people often overlook is that knowing a second or third language actually provides you with more career opportunities and gives you an edge to employers that many don’t have. Director of the University of Oregon’s Yamada Language Center, Jeff Magoto, sees a great advantage to studying a language, no matter people’s degree or career choice.
“There’s no job in the world today that doesn’t have a global implication, and if you are going to be globally minded, that requires the knowledge of at least one other language,” Magoto said. “This doesn’t make learning a new language easier, but whatever image you may have from middle school or high school of language studying, that stereotype is no longer true at the U of O.”
With advancements in language studies, specifically within the university, studying a foreign tongue is becoming less of a linear hassle, and more of a rounded, enriching experience.
“I think what has changed in language classrooms is that they’ve become very student-centered, so your teacher is much more likely to ask you about what you’re interested in and design lessons around that than ever before,” Magoto said. “But I can certainly relate to people who find language learning difficult and expensive because for me, thirty years ago, the only thing that ultimately worked was going to the countries where the languages were spoken to learn anything of value.”
Coupling an abroad experience with the current academic system at UO makes becoming conversational, and eventually fluent, in a foreign language happen faster than before. Studying and living abroad definitely helps with solidifying your language skills, but it contributes to a much greater learning experience that is irreplaceable: learning a new culture.
Other than the professional gain that you can get with learning a foreign language, another huge benefit is being able to adopt a new way of living and thinking. We naturally separate ourselves from one another because of our differences, but studying an unknown language is one major way to bridge the gaps that keep us apart.
“Words like empathy and cross-cultural awareness get thrown around a lot, but they only really happen if you meet people from other places on a similar level, and that’s socially, politically and linguistically,” Magoto said. “If you can’t connect at all, with where they’re at language-wise, then there’s a big part of your lives that you can’t share or understand.”