Why You Should Learn a Second LanguageLearning a foreign language will change your life. I’m not kidding, (I’m Argentinian and knowing two languages has been amazing for me). You’ve heard this same information from teachers, YouTube videos, and maybe even your parents.For decades, learning languages has been associated with success, health, and opportunities for personal growth.Now, I know what you’re saying, is that really true or is it just annoying people telling you to study?Welcome to Further Records, I’m Forest. For more practice materials and fun stuff, check out our instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channels!In recent years, scientists have been studying the mind benefits of language learning. But what about the other things that your parents told you, like better creativity, social tools, and economic benefits? A study by The British Academy has looked into all of these areas, and more, and now we have answers.First and foremost, we must say. When you hear the phrase “learning a second language” you generally think of children or teenagers studying with a book, and that the benefits don’t apply to adults that much.Well, you’d be wrong! Most of these findings apply not only to students of a young age, but also adults! It’s always the correct time to learn a second language, because older learners can also acquire all these benefits.Year after year, we get more and more worried about the topic of attention span. In the age of social media it’s difficult to remember even basic tasks. This study reveals that several investigations indicate that studying a new language may improve your attention after just one week of study. One week!! That’s like, three classes at most! Of course, the benefits for your attention improve more when you study more, but if you’ve already done a week of classes, what’s the harm in doing a month or two?Empathy is one of the most important skills for humanity. If we didn’t have empathy, we’d never have progressed as much as we have. One famous study says that “empathy is positively related to the ability to authentically pronounce a second language”. Have you ever met someone who can fluently speak two languages? You might have heard the fact that sometimes they feel like a different person when they speak the other language. That has been researched and is true for many language pairs, from Spanish-English to English-Chinese. The more you learn one language, the more likely you are to understand people who use that language. Language doesn’t exist on its own, it’s part of culture and people. Many Japanese learners cite the culture as a reason for wanting to learn a language. Empathy plays a huge role, because it feeds a curiosity for learning about people and cultures.There are many benefits for learners who are still students as well. Many studies indicate that language learners, particularly Spanish-English, will see benefits in all academic areas, including mathematics and science. This is true for learners of different socio-economic backgrounds as well.