This past summer, as I registered for my fall and winter semester classes, I realized that I would have to take a foreign language if I were going to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree. I was not particularly excited about this requirement – I had had a less than positive experience studying French during high school, as I struggled with both the language itself and the curriculum.

For college, I decided to abandon French, despite the fact that I thought it was a beautiful language, and instead elected to register for Spanish 101. I thought it would be a practical option. I had heard that it was easier to learn than most other languages, which was definitely a significant factor in my decision.

Still, I didn’t know any Spanish, aside from the basic phrases that most people learn by the time they’re six. Needless to say, I was feeling intimidated even before stepping into the classroom for the first time. I felt overwhelmingly underprepared and didn’t know what to expect.

During one of the first classes, my professor asked her students to write down why they were taking Spanish, adding that reasons such as “Spanish is easier to learn than other languages” were not solid enough. We needed to have sincere and purposeful reasons for studying this particular language.

This idea that studying Spanish should be a meaningful and personal experience really struck a chord with me, and I considered any other reasons I might have for learning it. My older brother had been living in Argentina for the past two years and had been studying the language that entire time, and my two younger siblings had just started working with a Spanish tutor, so I figured it would be fun to be able to communicate with the three of them in Spanish.

With this reason in mind, I pursued the language with renewed purpose and, consequently, had a far more positive experience than I might have had otherwise. In the end, while I certainly found Spanish to be challenging, I realized that it was doable. As a result, my initial misgivings and reservations about learning this foreign language (and foreign languages in general) started to fade away.

With that in mind, I would encourage students to consider taking a foreign language. There are plenty of excellent reasons to do so.

First, you open yourself up to increased travel opportunities. Whenever I ask anyone what items are on his/her bucket list, I find that “travel the world” is almost invariably on there somewhere. Learning a foreign language can help you develop this goal. If you learn Spanish, for example, you will have just made any potential trips to Spain, Mexico, Argentina, etc., that much easier for yourself because you’ll be able to communicate in the native language.

As a reciprocal effect, immersing yourself in the culture can also help you improve your ability to use the language, and so on. The learning process is actually quite fun, too. I’ve found that my Spanish classes are always some of my most enjoyable. The material is never dry and boring, and there are always plenty of opportunities to participate in class because speaking the language is so encouraged.

[email protected]