Why I want to be a polyglot.

Everyone has their own reason (or reasons) for learning another language. Perhaps it's because they want to go work in another country, or perhaps it's because they are fascinated by the other country's culture. Whatever the reason, I firmly believe that being a "multilingual" (and thus a "polyglot") is beneficial.

In fact, it is said that bilinguals (and thus multilinguals) are smarter in general (check out this article by NYTimes). Talk about motivation to learn new languages!

Apart from this, below are the reasons why I want to become a polyglot (well technically I am a polyglot already, since I am able to use more that two languages...but I feel like I can't really call myself a true polyglot, compared to those who can use 3-5 languages fluently!)

1) Being able understand others

I live in a multicultural environment and so I get exposed to all types of languages on a day-to-day basis. And it's super frustrating not being able to understand them! And as a person who is able to speak Korean, sometimes there are words you just can't express in English...so knowing more languages will hopefully help alleviate this frustration :D

2) Travelling

I love travelling and seeing new places. Ok, so English can help you to an extent...but it can only get you so far. I remember being in a taxi in Beijing and trying to communicate with the taxi driver.. It was so so difficult, especially because he's sitting there looking at the road and driving, and so I couldn't even use facial expressions nor hand gestures.... :| This was exactly the reason why I decided to study Chinese! I also just feel that you get a better experience overall when you know at least a little bit of the language used in any place you visit :)

3) Culture

Just imagine reading Haruki Murakami in Japanese and how awesome it would be. Reading translations are fine, but there are just some nuances and general "feels" that you don't get when you're reading the translated version.

And also, reading something like The Analects or Zhuang Zi in Classical Chinese...mind-blowing.

4) Living overseas

So I guess this is another step up from travelling, but I definitely would like to be able to live in different countries for at least a year or so, in order to actually get to know the country as a "local" rather than a "tourist" or just someone reading international news at home (we all know how exaggerated these news articles can get!).

5) Career paths

I have always been interested in pursuing a career at either an International Organisation (such as the UN and its divisions such as UNESCO, UNICEF etc), at an Embassy, or as a Language Teacher. And it's quite obvious how knowing more languages would be an advantage for such goals :-)

I guess these are the 5 biggest reasons why I have chosen to dedicate time to learn languages.

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I hope that this post has inspired you to think about why you would like to or have decided to learn another language and in turn motivate you to keep studying!

Please feel free to leave me any comments or questions :)

Céline xx