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No need to look for reasons to learn a foreign language: it's good for your career, for travel, for your culture and even... for morale! Because despite the work that it requires, learning a language can also be a lot of fun, according to science.

You have decided to learn a new language to improve your CV or to find a new job? Want to broaden your horizons or communicate better? Know it, learning a foreign language is never lost. So if you need a little more motivation to review your lessons or to resume classes, here are some unsuspected benefits of foreign languages.

Learning a Foreign Language Is Good for Morale

Some people are fascinated by foreign languages, and after studying one or two they end up expanding their learning to become multilingual. What if this love of languages was linked to the activation of specific areas of our brain?

Indeed, when studying a language, one of the most active areas is the "ventral striatum", that is to say the center of the reward. Located beneath the cortex, the ventral striatum is related to decision-making, but also to motivation, especially when it leads to a reward. Indeed, the ventral striatum is also activated when you have fun. To learn a language is to challenge oneself, and to feel pleasure and satisfaction when one succeeds!

Learning a Foreign Language Is Good for Your Health

What if you could take care of your brain when learning a foreign language? According to the journal Annals of Neurology, practicing a foreign language could allow you to enjoy a brighter mind and better cognitive abilities, especially as you get older. This is probably why bilingual people are supposed to be less affected (or later) by neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. On average, bilinguals and polyglots would develop Alzheimer's disease 5 years later than others.

Remember that by learning a foreign language and revising it daily, you are also working on your concentration.

Learning a Foreign Language Is Good for Culture and Personal Enrichment

Beyond the basic vocabulary, the conjugation of irregular verbs and grammar, it is important to learn more about the culture of the country (or countries) from which you learn the language. Not only because it's a fun way to learn a language more in-depth (by reading about the country's news, talking to natives), but also because it will prepare you for future linguistic trips abroad. It has also been proven that learning a language allows you to develop a "cultural competence" (to discover ways of doing things) as well as a "tolerance of ambiguity" (knowing how to adapt in an unknown situation).

Learning a language could therefore be beneficial for people with social anxiety or being uncomfortable with unexpected situations. Better: a high tolerance of ambiguity facilitates the future learning of another language!

In short, learning a foreign language is far more beneficial than you think. It's not just about adding a line to your resume, it’s also about opening up to the world and other intellectual and emotional opportunities. If you are convinced, do not wait to lose your motivation and start classes in English, Spanish, German, Italian or Mandarin!