Member-only story
5 Ways Learning a Foreign Language Will Make You Smarter
As a student I learned only a smattering of words in my high school German classes. I’m not alone. Less than one percent of Americans master a foreign language in the classroom. And like, I suspect, many others I was OK with sticking with English.
Then I grew up and became an expat, which led to me spending the last decade trying to master Greek. It has been challenging, to say the least. Despite my best efforts I still struggle to express my thoughts, regularly embarrass myself with my lack of comprehension, and curse whoever dreamed up the complexities of Greek grammar.
But yet I continue the struggle. Why?
It’s not mainly for practical reasons. Nearly everyone in my corner of the world speaks English. Nor am I (as far as I know) a masochist. Instead, even though I leave many lessons massively frustrated, I’ve glimpsed through all the difficulties a fact that I missed back in Frau Hepp’s high school German classes. Learning a foreign language stretches my thinking and enriches my brain. In short, I think it makes me smarter.
I am happy to report experts say I’m not imagining things. A host of studies show an impressive list of benefits to learning a foreign language. Taken together they just might make you reconsider whether a second language is worth your time (or your…
