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Having studied an Asian language for now over a third of my life, I can say with utmost confidence that learning another language teaches you vastly more than the superficial grammar and syntax. To learn a language, to thoroughly [i]understand [/i]a language, you must understand the culture - a point which has already cropped up aplenty.

However, what I think is worth noting is that when we learn about another culture, an inevitable consequence is learning about our own culture as well. When given another, deeply different way of life, one cannot help but look at how it varies from our own, resulting in acquiring another perspective on our own lives.

No, foreign language study is not the catalyst for taking an analytical look at our native cultures; verb choice and sentence modifiers may not overtly speak of philosophical and cultural issues. Obviously, though, taking the language helps.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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