Others



Journal Paper
Centeria Whaley-McCready
HMSV 343

The skill I’ve chosen that could benefit and relate to Human Services would be speaking a second language. I feel all people would benefit from mastering a second language. I have spent several days researching this and I have found out that there are many wonderful benefits to this skill. The job opportunities are incredible. It has even been proven that bilingualism has cognitive advantages across the entire lifespan, from children to adults.

According to the “Canadian Modern Language Review” an article by Lazarak,Wally called “Advantages linguistics, scolaires et cognitifs de l’immersion francaise”, their review after several studies shows that FI programs enable students to develop levels of proficiency in both French and English, at no cost to their academic success. Further to say Cognitive research associates bilingualism with heightened mental flexibility and creative thinking skills enhanced metalinguistic awareness, and great communicative sensitivity.

Knowledge of a second language gives you a competitive edge. We need to make ourselves more valuable to prospective employers. The country is becoming way more diverse. This is a useful career move to make. Say your company merges with a foreign company and moves abroad. It would be very useful to you to know a second language. Many careers are available for bilinguals, Flight attendants, Sales, Geologists, paralegals, travel agents, bank tellers and social workers. This may even be a necessity with these types of employment. Employees of major companies go to other countries for business trips or to live. Interpreting as a career has sky rocketed. It is a struggle every day for those who migrate to our country. They do not speak English and not all business has translators. This is very inconvenient and frustrating for them. The demand for translators is too high. They come to America with a dream and it can be crushed in one visit because we as Americans look at them funny and always want to say “learn English or go home”. I hear this everyday where I live and it’s frustrating for me to hear that. It is just as easy for us to learn their language as it is for them to learn ours. I remember as a child watching sesame street and learning my numbers in English and Spanish. We need to start young when the mind is fresh. Other countries have to learn our language. Some countries are even taking steps to teach certain classes in English. I suspect that we are way behind other countries in bilingualism. It should be mandatory to take and pass a foreign language to graduate high school. Learning a second language is also helpful in learning government, business, and education. I once read an article (“Breaking the language Barrier”). It stated that after September 11th, we were only at 30 percent capacity of our linguistic needs for government. The world is definitely full of languages. You could meet many more people, visit more places and read many more books with a second language. Your learning ability doubles. This would enhance lives to the fullest. An employer will see you as a bridge to new clients and customers if you know a second language. Professionals who know other languages can travel to other countries. Think about it, just knowing a second language can possibly take you around the world at someone else’s cost. All the people and places to visit and getting paid at the same time. Learning a second language might even save your life one day. You might be visiting another country one day and knowing a second language would be helpful so that you’re not taking advantage of.

I think learning a second language is almost critical. I hope it is offered to my children as they get older. To see them achieve what was not available to me is a dream come true. All the advantages there will be for them.

Works Cited
http://www.utpjournals.com/Canadian-Modern-Language-Review.html