Holiday gifting can be quite challenging sometimes, especially if your friend has difficult tastes to satisfy! It can also be a lot of fun when you truly know the receiver, or if the receiver has been dropping hints about what they want. But you will never go wrong with a gift that lasts forever, i.e. learning a language! It is becoming increasingly popular, and is featuring on many gift lists this holiday season!
Consider the following top reasons to entice your loved ones to learn a language:
1. Expands IQ and helps in exploring new cultures
It has been expertly proven that people who are learning a second language are more intelligent. They engage a larger part of their brain that has several positive effects on body functions: slowing down aging, increasing attention span, and becoming more observant due to improved body senses. In general, interacting with a bilingual or multilingual individual adds excitement because of their intellectual responses.
Languages also go hand-in-hand with understanding different cultures. As a result, acquiring a new language will help individuals become more accommodating towards different people and their customs.
One may also seem well traveled just by attempting to learn a new language! For this reason, a gift of foreign language learning may encourage a loved one to expand their horizons and give them a boost at social gatherings. It may even give their trip to the local Italian or Indian restaurant an entirely new appeal!
2. A great asset while traveling
Traveling to a foreign country may seem uncomfortable initially, especially if you consider the language barriers.
If a loved one plans to travel abroad, giving the gift of language learning will be incredibly worthwhile! It may be a short and quick language course at your local Institute, a Live Online program with a private tutor or an online course that will equip them with enough knowledge to communicate during their travels.
The gift of language may also accompany a travel package! In this case, gift your family with that trip they have longed for and accompany it with communication tools that will ensure they enjoy the adventure.
3. Increases chances to bag the ‘dream job’
Surprise your family members with an exciting opportunity to polish their CVs and become visible to the employer by becoming ‘bilingual’.
Studying a new language not only equips one with international communication skills but also opens up chances of networking with like-minded people. Employers also look for individuals with ‘global skills’ for overseas assignments and talent mobility. Your loved one may not realize this at first, but your gift this holiday season could literally open up new and exciting possibilities for them!
4. Boosts confidence
If a loved one faces challenges in making new friends while engaging in social gatherings or when having conversations, giving them the added skill of a second language may just be the solution. Studies reveal that acquiring a new language will often come with added knowledge in other areas, and enable them to break down barriers in their personal and professional relationships. This may just provide them with the boost they needed!
Individuals can be perceived as knowledgeable and ‘worldly wise’ just by demonstrating that they understand and appreciate different cultures. More often than not, beginning to learn a language comes with the discovery that you may like to undertake additional self-development or explore available business opportunities in a foreign country.
5. Widens opportunities
Encourage a loved one to go beyond their comfort zones and discover new inner strengths by simply giving them a gift voucher to learn a language. Let them select their language choice that might be the key to discovering potential skills. Who knows, you may help them unlock the genius within!
Studies carried out across different countries globally show that more than 50% of the world population are either bilingual or multilingual, being able to engage in more than one language within and outside their homes. This greatly advances globalization and opens up actual and virtual borders, which, in turn, has the added advantage of enabling new opportunities.