Quarantine Self-Development: Languages Other Than English You Need to Learn
By Malak Khaled
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, most people are staying at home, so why spend your time feeling bored and doing nothing when you can do some self-development. Learning a new language in quarantine could be really fun and entertaining because it expands your analytical abilities as well as your knowledge of different cultures and the world. Learning a new language could be an impressive thing to come out of quarantine with, as well as a surprise for your family and friends for when you meet them after quarantine.
Here are 8 Languages you should consider learning:
1) Mandarin Chinese
The largest portion of people on the planet speak Chinese. Although it’s a tricky language to learn, it’s also good for your resume due to its use in finance, business, politics, technology, and economics.
2) Spanish
Spanish actually has more native speakers in the world than English and is the official language of 20 countries, which makes it one of the best languages to learn while traveling.
3) French
French is the official language of 11 countries, so if you plan on going to France, Quebec, or Sub-Saharan Africa, it’s completely worth learning and it’s a simple language to learn.
4) German
German may only be officially spoken in six countries, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg, however, it’s natively spoken by around 100 million people. It is really beneficial if you plan traveling to any of the above countries because you’re most likely to fit more into the culture, but you have to watch out for the 250 German dialects.
5) Hindi
I understand that Hindi may not be what you have expected on the list, but Hindi is on the top five of the most spoken languages in the world with around 310 million speakers. So, based on popularity as well as culture, of course, Hindi is a very important language on this list that should be on the top of your “To-learn” list. You’ll also find a lot of overlap with Arabic which is always fun!
6) Italian
One of the most studied languages in the world for culture and pleasure. Italy, of course, is known for many things, such as being the cradle of one of the most powerful Western civilizations, their tasty cuisine, their music, and of course their fashion. Not to mention that Italian is also one of the most romantic languages out there.
7) Japanese
People became very attached to Japanese lately due to manga or anime, not to mention many serious gamers out there who gained interest in the language and the country through their games. It opens your mind to different cultures and bigger business opportunities. Of course, it’s also a language of technology and pop culture because the Japanese people are innovators, so if you’re into technology, Japanese will open many doors for you.
8) Russian
Russian is spoken by many different countries other than Russia. like Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia, Belarus, Moldova, and more, which means it’s a widely spoken language. Aside from Russia being one of the largest countries in the world, Russians actually have the lowest rates of English proficiency so only about 5% of Russians have a command of English, and although it’s one of the hardest languages to learn due to its complex grammatical structure, it’s not as hard as it may seem as learning the Cyrillic alphabet (33 letters) is pretty easy because most of them are similar if not the same. Most importantly, however, is that Russia is growing in popularity due to its historical legacy; Russian is considered by some to be one of the languages of the future.
