Why Learn a (Foreign) Language — Even When We Have AI and Many Other Tools These Days
19 Nov 2024 #miscApart from monetary reasons—learning a second language helped me double my last salary as a full-time employee:
1. Because AI can’t replace human connection
From “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” the trick to having good conversations is to make them about the other person.
And the easiest way to make conversations about the other person is to use a few words in their native language. Hi, bye, yes/no, thanks, and please will create a connection immediately.
In a past job, I learned a few words in Russian to connect with my coworkers. It was funny when they forgot to use English in shared chats and a simple “English, please” in Russian (anglijski, pozhaluysta) broke the ice.
AI can’t replace smiles when you greet people in their native language.
2. Because AI can’t replace the excitement of decoding what was once gibberish
My German is limited to survival phrases.
But the last time I visited my best friend’s parents in Europe, while taking a walk around a park, someone asked my best friend’s mom in German: “Ist das dein Sohn?” (Is that your son?) My inner child couldn’t avoid jumping in excitement. I got that!
That’s one of the most exciting moments of learning a language. Passing from hearing noise to decoding and understanding sounds.
An “I got that!” is priceless.
3. Because AI can’t reshape our brains and makes us think different.
Languages shape our thinking.
When we learn a new language, we’re creating new connections in our brain. Think of learning a language with a new script or with sounds that don’t exist in your native language. Every language rewires our brain.
These new connections make us think and behave differently.
We’re a new person with every language we learn. AI can’t replace that. Yet?