Foreign Languages: Outdated Tradition or Investment in the Future?

In an era where technological marvels allow us to translate foreign characters and conversations in an instant, the question arises: Is learning foreign languages still relevant? A convinced 'Yes' comes from many experts, who point out that foreign languages are more relevant than ever. The enthusiasm for languages often begins in childhood. This was also the case for a pilot who developed his first flight dreams in the rural areas of Western Massachusetts. There, he combined his fascination for foreign places and aircraft with learning languages such as French, Dutch, and Spanish from his Belgian father and through school lessons. However, it was the Japanese language that particularly captivated him during a summer stay in Kanazawa. Despite technological progress and the global dominance of the English language, there are solid reasons to continue investing in language skills. Both in the economy and in U.S. government agencies, the demand for multilingual employees is growing. At the same time, studies show that only about one in five students in K-12 classes learns a foreign language, and enrollments in language courses at U.S. colleges decreased by almost a third between 2009 and 2021. These gaps open up promising career opportunities for language learners, both domestically and internationally. Although modern travelers often no longer need language skills thanks to smartphones and real-time translations, language learning can be compared to math classes. No one would argue that calculators make math lessons obsolete. Learning languages promotes memory, creativity, and concentration and has a positive effect on overall academic performance. Additionally, it can delay age-related neural decline. In this sense, learning foreign languages is a gym for the brain.