Advantage Point 8 Ways Being Bilingual Gives You an Edge

Advantage Point 8 Ways Being Bilingual Gives You an Edge Advantage Point: 8 Ways Being Bilingual Gives You an Edge Feel like you could use an advantage in life?Sometimes, it can seem like certain people just have it all: looks, money, smartsIt may be enough to make you turn green with envy.You know what, though? By learning a second language, you can give yourself the advantage in almost any situation!Not only does being bilingual increase your attractiveness, earning power and intelligence, but its something anyone can become with a smart and effective approach.Thats right,  its completely possible for anyone to learn any language.Its true.It doesnt matter how old you are, where you live or what your experiences have been thus farâ€"you have the power to transform your life through learning a second language.Look at it this way: Being bilingual is something that only about 20% of the United States population  gets to experience.The numbers are higher when you look at the entire world, but even then, only  half of all humans  are bilingual.Dont you want to be in the half of the population that al ways has the ultimate advantage (aka the bilingual half)?Of course you do. Thats why youre reading this article, right?Ready to see exactly how being bilingual can work in your favor in nearly any situation?Let us begin. Advantage Point: 8 Ways Being Bilingual Gives You an Edge1. Being Bilingual Gives You a Social AdvantageLets say youre a social butterfly who enjoys talking to people from all walks of life. You have hundreds of friends following you on your social media pages and youre always that one person to greet almost anyone you meet (whether they like it or not!).Or perhaps youre on the other side of the social spectrum, and you usually keep to yourself. You have a small circle of friends who are close to you, but youd still like to meet new people and improve your social skills.No matter what type of person you are socially, being bilingual, or even just deciding to become bilingual, gives you an advantage when it comes to meeting new people for the following reasons.Ther e are simply more people to communicate withBeing bilingual can improve your social life due to the simple fact that it allows you to talk to more people.For example, if you were a person who could only speak English but you learned how to speak Japanese fluently, you could then speak to people who speak English and to people who speak Japanese, therefore potentially expanding your social circle.The process of learning a language improves your communication skillsIn addition to increasing the number of people they can talk to, people who learn a language later in life (as opposed to growing up bilingual) can improve their social lives in another cool way: When a person learns a new language, they almost always end up improving their communication skills in the process.But how is this possible?Its simple! To successfully become bilingual, one needs to develop great listening and speaking skills in the language being learned, both of which are essential to handling social interactions with others because theyre how you effectively connect with people and build solid relationships.Furthermore, reading and writing skills  in your new language  are strengthened in the process of becoming bilingual, and these are crucial to good communication, too.This means that whether youre a total shut-in who only practices your new language by communicating with native speakers and other learners on the web, or youre the type who dives right into local language exchanges because you cant stay in the house for two days straight, the process of familiarizing yourself with the language makes you better at communicating.This rings true no matter what language is being spoken or how youre conversing with others (whether via chat, phone, email or face to face).The process of learning a language gives you a chance to connectWhats also neat is that this benefit to your social life doesnt just happen after youve become bilingual. Who says you have to wait until youre fluent in a languag e to enjoy this perk?You can start meeting people who speak a different language  while youre learning another language. The journey to becoming bilingual can definitely be a fun one, especially if you include others along the way, so why not give it a go?Some awesome ways to possibly expand your social circle while becoming bilingual include connecting with others in language learning communities near you or hosting a foreign exchange student in your home.To start off, though, one of the easiest ways to get going on the social aspect of language learning is to find a language exchange partner, or even just a pen pal.A couple of terrific sites to find pen pals are PenPalWorld  and WorldFriends.2. Being Bilingual Gives You Advantages at Every Stage of LifeLearning a second language doesnt only give you advantages in different areas of your life, it gives you age-specific advantages at every stage of your life. Whether you learn a second language when youre young or old, it can only m ake your life better.Lets go through the main stages of the life cycle and see how becoming bilingual can positively impact people of all ages.Advantages for childrenLearning a foreign language as a child can be beneficial in so many different ways that its hard to keep track of them all, but here a few just to give you an idea:It can accelerate learning and help build social skills, cognitive skills and emotional skills that have positive effects for many years to come (even beyond school years).It can teach children to be more culturally accepting, which is very useful in a world thats becoming more globalized every day.It may even help childrens brains to better resist distraction!Whats also really cool about children who learn languages is that they can  help adults learn languages  by example, because theyre so good at it!So if youre teaching small children to become bilingual and you want to learn other languages, too, you could potentially be helping them to help you. Pretty awesome, huh?Advantages for adultsOkay, lets be honest. Children are better at learning languages than adults are. However, that fact alone means that its doubly impressive if you pick up a second language as an adult (and you absolutely can).  It does get more difficult to learn new languages as we get older, but its far from impossible.In addition, being bilingual as an adult makes you look good in several areas of your life, including your social life (which weve already discussed), work life (which well get to) and even your love life. In fact, most of the advantages of being bilingual should stick with you throughout your adult life, including all of the other advantages mentioned in this post.Advantages for seniorsMany people may mistakenly think that you cant really learn new things when you reach the final years of your life, especially foreign languages. However, in actuality, youre never too old to become bilingual. If picking up a language when youre an adult looks good, picking one up when youre a senior looks even more impressive!Plus, recent studies show that certain activities such as learning a new language can actually strengthen your cognitive skills to keep your brain sharp  as you age. Studies have also shown that being bilingual can possibly reduce the risk of dementia and delay Alzheimers. So these are good reasons for anyone to become bilingual, no matter what stage of life theyre at.3. Being Bilingual Gives You Advantages as a Business OwnerIf youre a business owner and you can only speak one language, you might be missing out on an effective way to make your business better. Sure, hiring employees who are bilingual can be beneficial to your company, but being bilingual yourself will be even more advantageous.Dont believe it?Here are a few ways that being bilingual can be better for business.It gives you more networking opportunitiesBusiness owners who are bilingual should simply have more opportunities to network, as theyre able to con verse with more people than monolinguals.It helps you think outside the boxBilingual business owners also are likely to be more mentally fit, as learning a new language (or just speaking two languages), requires mental exercise and thinking outside the box. Because of this, they can take their creativity skills from language learning  (or the extended insight they have from having grown up speaking two languages) to their business models, enabling them to think of unique ways to make their business endeavors more successful.It makes you look good to your employeesLastly, being a bilingual business owner can help you gain respect and admiration among your employees. It shows them that youre willing to put effort into adapting to the world around you to help your businesses soar. Also, if any of your employees are bilingual or speak foreign languages, you may be able to win respect from them on a more personal level (as well as communicate with them better!).Of course, running a busin ess does take a lot of time and effort and you may not feel like taking additional time out of your busy day to learn something new.  However, if you can set some time aside (even just 30 minutes a day) to learn a foreign language, you might be surprised at how much you retain in that short amount of time and even more surprised at how much developing this new skill can help your business in the long run.4. Being Bilingual Gives You Advantages as a TravelerFor those of you who love to travel, consider this tidbit the next time youre planning your future itineraries: Being bilingual in the right languages for your travel agenda helps make trips more fun, relaxing and cheaper.Think about it.Usually, when people travel overseas for leisure, they want their trips to be as stress-free as possible. In many cases, they will choose to travel using escorted tour packages so that they can let these touring agencies do all of the hard work while they focus on packing and sightseeing. While the se tourist trips can be a lot of fun, they can be costly as well.Then there are those who venture out alone or in small groups, relying heavily on various language and travel technology to help them navigate around. However, this isnt a perfect solution, either. We all know that putting all of our trust in technology can be iffy, especially when to comes to finding your way around.However, when you’re bilingual, theres no need to buy these fancy packages or invest in expensive technology in order to have a good time. To have successful trips, all you need is your effective language skills and the willingness to continue learning new words and phrases. (And maybe a map. Maps are good to have as well.)Here are some other little pluses to being a bilingual traveler that are worth mentioning:Youll feel more free and independent because youll know the words and phrases you need to get around with having to resort to a phrasebook.Even if youre not fully fluent in your second language, y oull become more confident in yourself and your language learning abilities during a stay abroad. You might even end up trying to become multilingual or a polyglot. Keep in mind that you may not become fully fluent in a new language while youre in the foreign place youre visiting unless you plan on staying for awhile, but youll still probably learn more as an even partially-bilingual traveler than a monolingual tourist.Youll probably end up spending less money because your foreign language skills can help you find the least expensive places to eat, shop, sleep and visit without having to rely on a single book or the advice of a non-native.So dont be a clueless, touristy type of traveler! Become bilingual to get the most out of your trips, and while youre at it, use your hard-won confidence to try to become multilingual or even a polyglot.5. Being Bilingual Gives You Advantages in the WorkforceIf youre job hunting and you can only speak one language, you may feel intimidated every ti me you come across an ad where they say that bilingual people are preferred. The truth is, you have good reason to feel a little worried!Nowadays, more and more employers are looking for people who speak multiple languages. This is especially true for certain job fields such as customer service, hospitality, health care, information technology and administrative work.What is it about being bilingual that makes job seekers that much more desirable? Perhaps its just that more and more employers are doing business with customers and clients from all over the world and they need employees who can effectively communicate with diverse groups of people.But that probably just means more people have already become bilingual to meet that need, right? Actually,  a study conducted by the University of Phoenix Research Institute shows that  there arent enough people learning languages like Spanish and Mandarin Chinese to meet the rising demand among employers.By the way, the career advantage of being bilingual doesnt only apply to regular 9-to-5-type jobs either. Are you employed or considering being employed by the military? Being bilingual (especially in certain languages such as English, Arabic, Farsi, Mandarin, Korean or Pashto) while serving can be beneficial for you as well. Chances are high that when you enlist, youll have more opportunities available to you than your monolingual comrades, such as jobs like translation and interpretation. Recruiters also love to see bilinguals sign up because they figure youll be able to handle foreign environments pretty well.Also, theres the nice fact that (at least in the United States), you can be compensated for maintaining your language skills (depending on the language) through foreign proficiency bonus pay, which is always neat.But in case you were wondering which languages are the most common  ones that civilian employers want their ideal applicants to be fluent in, these usually include  English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, German and Mandarin Chinese.Even  Latin, while not as common as other languages, can be beneficial in certain careers related to law, education, computer science and medicine.Of course, feel free to learn any language you want. No matter what language you decide to become bilingual in, it will most likely give you an edge over your competition in any career that you want to pursue in todays job market.6. Being Bilingual Gives You an Intelligence AdvantageIndeed it will. Several studies that involved having both bilinguals and non-bilinguals perform special testsâ€"like spatial memory tasksâ€"showed a correlation between being bilingual and having better brain functionality. In other words, being fluent in multiple languages can actually make you smarter.But how exactly does being bilingual make your brain function differently? Some scientists say that learning two or more languages helps your brain to exercise, which can boost its performance, sort of like how bo dybuilders exercise to grow and tone their muscles. Isnt that wonderful? Who wouldnt want to have a powered-up brain?7. Being Bilingual Gives You an Everyday AdvantageDont you just hate it when people tell jokes in foreign languages in front of you and you feel out of the loop? Like when you go to a restaurant and the workers there are laughing it up in a language you dont understand and youre just dying to know what theyre talking about (especially if their conversation sounds like it might be about you!)?Now, if you were bilingual in this situation, you might be able to not only understand what theyre saying, but laugh right along with them. Sure, you might get some funny looks, but at least youd feel good knowing that you could follow along.This idea extends far beyond jokes, though. Being bilingual can give you an edge in just about every aspect of everyday life. For example, if you love Italian food and are bilingual in both English and Italian, when you go out with friends or family, you can feel good knowing what the Italian dishes are at an authentic restaurant without having to read the descriptions or ask. Not only would you not feel lost in this situation, but you could show off your knowledge and impress your dining companions, and maybe even the natives serving you, too!And if youre into foreign media such as TV shows, movies and music? The same principle applies. Being bilingual enables you to understand foreign languages without having to use subtitles or translations. Heck, even if youre still learning, you might catch on to foreign words and phrases after youve only watched and/or listened to content a few times.Knowing what people in those foreign films and songs are saying instead of hearing just noise and jibberish is a lot better on your ears, dont you think?To sum it up, being bilingual can help you better understand the world around you in ways that youve never thought of before. It can make life more enjoyable even during your relaxed, laid-back hours, and that’s just A-OK.8. Being Bilingual Gives You an Advantage in Helping OthersYou probably read the title of this section and either rolled your eyes or felt a sudden urge to get a cape and costume while thinking of a cool hero name to call yourself. No matter how you reacted, theres probably one question on your mind: Being bilingual can make you a hero?For most of this post, weve been talking about how you can help yourself by being bilingual. But hey, its not always about you. And it may not seem obvious at first, but if you use some of your language skills for the greater good, in any way, whos to say youre not acting like a true hero? There are tons of ways you can use your bilingual talents to make a difference in the world while also gaining respect and admiration from your fellow humans.For example, if youre a certified teacher whos bilingual, consider using your unique language skills to teach or tutor overseas where you can make an impact in the lives of students anywhere.  Theres also the possibility of teaching your friends and family the foreign language(s) you speak, so they can experience some of the advantages you do, which would probably at least make you a hero in their eyes!Not cut out for teaching? Even if you cant (or dont want to) teach, you can always find other volunteer programs where bilinguals are needed either locally or around the world. Just being bilingual can help you communicate with people from other cultures, and the amount of joy youll feel when you interact with them will make all the hard work of learning a language worth it.The truth is, youll never know who you might affect in the future if you become fluent in a second language. While being bilingual may not directly benefit you all of the time, being able to help others with your talents when you can should be a huge advantage in itself.Do you believe that learning multiple languages can help you be a hero now? The correct answer is yes. Yes, you d o.So, what have we learned?Basically, when it comes to learning a new language, there are so many advantages that its hard to not  be bilingual in this day and age.Believe it or not, there actually used to be a time when people thought that being bilingual would put you at a disadvantage, but now we know that this is certainly not the case.Hopefully, after reading this, you feel super motivated to start learning one, two or more additional languages.Good luck on your journey to becoming bilingual!