What’s The Point In Learning Another Language?

Multiple languages are better than one

Tom Stevenson
Better Advice

--

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

German class was the worst. I didn’t get along with the teacher, who thought I was an idiot, nor was I particularly interested in learning German either.

I’d taken the class at the insistence of my parents. The rationale was that it would be useful to learn a second language, it would have benefits down the line. I could see their point, but I wanted to do cookery instead.

In the end, I gave in and took the German class. After three years of being required to study German, I was now doing it for another two voluntary. After a few classes, I wondered why I bothered.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the subject, I was keen to get an A grade. Back before the grading system was changed in the UK, an A grade was the second-highest grade you could get after an A*. I didn’t think it would be too difficult to get an A.

I was wrong.

German was much harder than I anticipated. I think this is one of the reasons I didn’t like the class. My heart wasn’t in it and I meandered on in the delusion that I could somehow get an A grade.

When I got my results back after the end of my studies, I received a C. Not bad, but not brilliant either. Looking back, that was…

--

--