LingQ Article Writing Contest

What are the most important rewards of learning another language?

Tell us what you consider the major benefits of learning another language. Your submission can be in any of the languages that we support at LingQ. The maximum length is 400 words. Be sure to submit your entries by Wednesday, July 20th!

How do I enter?

To participate, you can either email us your entry (support [at] lingq.com), post it in this thread or post a link to it on our Facebook page (Redirecting...).

We will publish all the entries on the LingQ Central blog where we will select the winners.

What can I win?

We will select five (5) winners from the submissions. Winning entries will receive 500 points on LingQ!

Hello everybody,
I believe that most rewards of learning another language is the communication with another people and try understand your country and customs. The languages connect another people around the world and its necessary and important. That is´t possible with language learning. Great Contest. Regards.

I will have a go at this, though I think 400 words isn’t very much.

Are there any incentives for writing in one’s target language (apart from the practice!)?

Hi
Learning another language means having another chance to meet new friends with new and different culutre , ideas etc. I think learning another language improve your personality and make you different .

Hi
Learning another language means having another chance to meet new friends with new and different culutre , ideas etc. I think learning another language improve your personality and make you different .

John Matthew Garner

The Greatest Gründe für eine neue Sprache lernen

Die wichtigsten Vorteile erhält man vom Lernen einer Sprache gehören zu gewinnen Kenntnisse über Kultur, zunehmende Möglichkeit, zu beziehen und mit Menschen kommunizieren und Verständnis mehr über die Natur des Sprachgebrauchs. Freigeben eines Gesprächs in einer zweiten Sprache können Menschen helfen, zusammen zu kommen und Ideen auszutauschen. Wenn wir in der Lage, Ideen zu teilen beginnen wir zu einem besseren Verständnis Interessen und Leidenschaften anderer. 
Wenn jemand begrüßt und gesprochen wird, in ihrer eigenen Sprache, (durch einen Ausländer) mehrere Dinge auftreten. Die Person, die versucht zu sprechen, ist aufschlussreich ihren Leistungsstand in dieser Sprache und auch sie erweitern ein Ausdruck der Dankbarkeit und Demut gegenüber dieser Person Muttersprache. Dankbarkeit und Demut auftreten, weil die Ausländer so dass sich in der zweiten Sprache und jeder, der mit ihm vertraut ist teilzunehmen. Jemand, der den Aufwand zu schätzen hilft fördern und sie weiter in einer Weise, die ihren Respekt und hoher Bezug zum Ausdruck zu unterhalten. Wenn Sie sich offen auf diese Weise ermöglicht es eine Beziehung zwischen dem erfahrenen Linguisten und den Neuling zu bilden. 
Wenn ein Sprachschüler ist hartnäckig und mutig eine in ihren Versuchen, verbessern sie die Möglichkeit haben, einen Unterschied in der Welt zu machen. Das Wissen um eine 2. Sprache kann dazu beitragen, eine Brücke zwischen diesen Menschen, damit Ideen und Möglichkeiten frei laufen können über Verknüpfung Bürger getrennte Welten. Durch das Erlernen neuer Wörter täglich und überprüfen Sie die Wörter, die wir bereits wissen, lassen wir uns die Möglichkeit, zu wachsen und zu verbessern. Durch die gemeinsame Nutzung ein Gespräch in einer anderen Sprache, die wir erweitern unseren Horizont und lernen, auszudrücken vermag uns in unglaubliche neue Möglichkeiten. 
Übersetzer sind ein wichtiger Unternehmen, das Menschen gibt Perspektive und Verständnis für andere Kulturen und Geschichten. Das Verständnis der Sprache kann leicht auf Situationen, die sonst mühsam konnte vergossen. Obwohl viele nicht wählen würde, um einen Übersetzer mieten kann nicht geleugnet werden, dass diejenigen, die tun sich leichter navigieren und entdecken Interessen haben bei der Erkundung eines fremden Landes, in dem eine unbekannte Sprache ist weit verbreitet werden.

@peter - A number of factors will go into the judging process, including originality, creativity and quality to name a few. Just know that making a few mistakes while writing in a language you’re learning won’t count against you (though you should proofread it before submitting it!).

The most important thing you gain when you learn a language is that you establish what is called a bridge between your mother tongue and the target language. This bridge is essential in communication and mutual understanding among diverse nations and varied cultures. When you learn a certain new language you will soon find out that you expose yourself to a different culture, a different method of thinking and a different heritage. This brand new concept will give its contribution to widening your scope of knowledge and helping you to become more flexible and resourceful. Your character will have another great alternative foundation on which you can rely to solve a lot of problems. You will have a wonderful time walking in various fields and smelling novel flowers. With language, we can express our hopes, desires, dreams and fears. With language, we can pass our knowledge, experience, skills and points of view. That’s why we can say that when you learn a new language, you double the benefit of your life time as you win another life!

A major example for demonstrating this bridge is late Egyptian president Anwar Al-Sadat. Not only was Al-Sadat a great leader but he was also a brilliant linguist (He spoke more than 5 languages).This made him greatly tolerant and understanding towards the other cultures. While he was responsible for breaking out war between Egypt and Israel again, he, with his partners, managed to reach the durable Camp David Accords which ended war between the two countries up till now and saved thousands of lives. Through his initiatives, he taught a lot of people how to take significant steps towards peaceful coexistence and reciprocal appreciation. He couldn’t have done so without his profound knowledge of other languages. He properly used this lingual bridge to conceive the others’ attitude and to convey his perspective to them. Sure he learnt that when you can’t dictate your conditions, you should negotiate and do something like give and take without violating your constant values. I can’t imagine that he reached this ability without navigating in literature and spending good deal of his precious time with remarkable names like Shakespeare, Dickens and Arthur Miller. He was exceptionally interested in history but it is completely another thing when you read history from another point of view. No wonder he could figure out a lot of dilemmas.

quiero poder conversar en ingles y quiero poder entender y comprender los dialogos de las peliculas y también escuchar las noticias por la radio y la television.

So the submission must be written in the target language? (Or is it to be written in your native language?)

@Klbooks - The submission can be written in any language supported on LingQ. Whether it be in your native or target language is up to you :slight_smile:

Oh, thanks for a quick reply! :slight_smile:

Hello,
I speak fluently 5 languages and I am currently learning Russian and Portuguese.
I would like to tell everybody that learning a language MEANS WIDENING THE CHANCE TO GRASP THE WORLD.
I do mean it. I am not a very smart person, meaning by this that I was never an A student but the fact that I was risen bilingually and I went on to learn other languages made it possible for me to understand more cultures and I now truly feel a global citizen and this is wonderful and something that will give you lots of good feelings even when one might have personal troubles at work or when (and that includes nearly everyone) one is experiencing status anxiety.
Apart from the joy I see the activity of learning a language the best way to add more value to oneself as far as job seeking is concerned.
I want to emphasize that I very often realize how lucky I am to be able to watch many programmes on TV or videos for example on Youtube without having to limit myself to only one or two languages. And every time I realize that I feel sorry for everybody who cannot enjoy the same due to language limitations.
So whatever age you are - IT IS NEVER LATE FOR STARTING TO LEAR A LANGUAGE!!!
Remember! You already speak your mother tongue - a foreign language means just adding up to it by following a program. And the key is to take it LITTLE BY LITTLE B U T E V E R Y D A Y ! ! ! without skipping a day if possible.
Don’t learn more than 20 minutes a day - or if you are diligent enough and determined to learn a language and you want to put 60 minutes a day for learning THEN DIVIDE IT IN 3X20 minutes. DON’T do the whole hour. It will tire you soon!!!
I am a most happy person and I have to thank the range of languages I can understand and express myself in. AND NOW YOU MIGHT THINK I’M EXAGGERATING BY SAYING THAT I WOULD RATHER SPEAK MORE LANGUAGES THAN BE A RICH PERSON. But that it true for me. Learning languages means HAPPINESS IN YOUR LIFE!!

Hi, Alex and everyone , this is my writing. I have also e-mailed it.

Note : This passage is copy-righted in the year of 2011 by “PhilipFan” .

THE BENEFITS OF LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE

Learning another language has given me a lot of benefits professionally, socially and personally.

Language learning has given me fun and the confidence to learn other languages. To illustrate this, let me tell you my story. I started learning a foreign language which is English when I was a child. At first, I was put into school and tuition using the traditional method of learning such as doing textbook drills, analyzing sentences, translation rules and memorizing vocabularies. Frankly, I didn’t enjoy them. However, there were also “cartoon time” and “music time”, and I had always yearned for it. As a child, I enjoyed them so much, and when I just listened to interesting and stimulating English content, I almost forgot that I was learning another language. While I am in this state, I feel great. So learning a language has given me fun and the opportunity to develop confidence to learn more languages.

I have to admit that I choose to learn English because I want to have higher education in more prestigious education systems such as the systems in United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore and United Kingdom . I want to have the opportunity to expand my horizon by adventuring in a foreign country and study. I want to get brighter and better future that otherwise I won’t have. So English has given me a ticket to more inspiring and exciting future.

Nowadays, English is widely used as an international language. The explosions of media channels and technology have allowed me to have the opportunity to connect with modern tribes all over the world. This has increased every person in a tribe a leverage in almost all organizations- the opportunity to lead. As Seth Godin has mentioned in his book “Tribes “, everyone now can be a leader. Whether someone wants to be a leader or not, now it is not the matter of possibility – it is the matter of choice. I agree with Seth Godin. Now I have the privilege of connecting with every person regardless of his or her nation, culture and religion. Now I have the opportunity to learn and connect with each other. Now I have the leverage to lead. And I have always derived immense satisfaction from being able to connect with people all over the world using English as a tool.

In a nut shell, learning English has given me more fun and the confidence to learn other languages, the opportunity to connect with international tribes and the ticket to exciting higher education.
…the end…

Note : This passage is copy-righted in the year of 2011 by “PhilipFan” .

Depuis mon enfance, l’apprentissage de langues m’apporte beaucoup de choses.
(Permettez-moi de presenter des exemples.)

(Premièrement,) connaître des langues s’ouvre au monde. (C’est à dire que la connaîssance de langues nous aide à découvrir des cultures différentes ainsi que les points de vue differents par rapport à celui de mon pay.)
En 1975, un ancien sous-lieutenant de l’armée japonaise, Mr. Onoda, a été découvert dans une île de l’Océan Pacifique.Depuis la fin de la seconde guerre mondiale en 1945 jusqu’à 1975, il a vecu pendant 30 ans avec sa radio dans les grottes de cette île. Cet appareil électronique lui permettait de savoir ce qui se passait dans son pays natal. A vrai dire, avant qu’on ne l’ait découvert, il savait déjà que la guerre du Pacifique était terminée. En apprenant cette nouvelle, j’ai tout de suite trouvée que la radio est un outil très efficace afin de savoir ce qui se passe dans le monde entier. Malgré mon âge (entre 13 et 14 ans) j’écoutais à la radio des émissions sur les ondes courtes du monde entier: VOA, BBC, Radio Pékin, etc. Le problème, c’est que je ne comprenais absolument pas toutes ces informations…c’était trop difficile pour moi. Donc, je restais devant la radio sans rien comprendre. Pourtant, j’étais très curieux de savoir les cultures différentes. Malgrès la mauvaise qualité de réception, je me suis amusé à écouter plusieurs sortes de musiques étrangères, les informations, etc. Cette expérience m’a familiarisé avec les prononciations de nouvelles langues et, même maintenant, m’encourage à les apprendre.

(Deuxièmement, ) la capacité des langues nous donne la possibilité de communiquer avec plus de personnes. (Grâce à la nouvelle technologie; Internet, on peut se parler sans se déplacer. Bien sûr, si on va aux pays étrangers, on rencontrera milliers de choses, non seulement les langues mais aussi les cultures.)
J’ai quitté mon pays à l’âge de 23 ans dans le but de prendre des leçons de saxophone en France. En y arrivant pour la première fois, je ne savais pas parler le français bien que j’avais suivi un cours intensif pendant trois mois. Mon séjour en France , pendant 3 ans, a été parfois enrichissant, parfois difficile, surtout que la barrière de la langue m’empêchait de comprendre ce que les locuteurs natifs me disaient ainsi que de m’exprimer clairement. Pourtant, mon expérience plutôt douloureuse est maintenant un bon souvenir, toujours très vivant dans mon esprit.

Une chose que je voudrais ajouter, est qu’en principe, chaque ville ou même chaque langue régionale a une longue histoire (un contexte social). Je vais continuer à apprendre des langues avec un grand plaîsir.

(440 words)

( ) will be deleted if my writing is too long.

Thank you for all the great entries so far. Remember that there are only 7 days left to submit your articles for this contest. Good luck!

rewards of learning another language…

there are many rewards when you are learning a new language.

1.- Wouldn`t you like to travel to a country without depending on a guide, I think that would be wonderful because you could speak with anyone, you could go to a restaurant and feeling confidence when you are ordering, or going to a store without having problems with the seller.

2.- wouldn´t you like to have friends from another countries and having fun with them and knowing their culture. Many people can´t have friends abroad because of this drawback.

3.-wouldn´t you like to listen to your favorite music, read magazines, books, newspapers and watching your favorites movies without the need of a translator.

As you can see learning a new language it´s no only for passing an exam or getting a better job. it goes beyond this. learning a new language is having the opportunity of knowing new people, different customs and foremost when you speak another language your whole world changes. I know it´s not easy to speak a new language, you must be persistent, but when you know the right method as this one lingQ you realize that learning a new language wasn´t as difficult as you thought.

I’m from Pakistan. My native language is URDU. English is my second language and I’m currently learning it. The rewards of learning another language you won’t appreciate if you are learning it in your home country. You will feel like you are chasing after an empty dream/goal. Now I have traveled two countries(Thailand and Malaysia) on my own outside my native country and it was a breeze all the way from airports to hotels to restaurants and I never faced any issues during my stay because I could communicate not perfect yet but still decent and I had a great time exploring things in alien countries (atleast for me I was a first time traveler). It took me two days to
make new friends and assimilate in a new system. Because of my language abilities I could take a bird’s view on the whole city and could take a mental picture of it. I was able to gain new perspective about life from different kinds of people than those of mine. I gained confidence,
I became stronger mentally, I did everything on my own. I developed “nothing is impossible” sort of attitude. The whole world looked so beautiful because I could communicate in a new language. These are the rewards of learning a new language and it has further motivated me to improve on my previously acquired skills and benefit more in terms of communication. There you have it, my personal experience right from the hip.

(Written by Asad Khan, Karachi, Pakistan)

The quantity of rewards is infinite, you will have a huge improvement of your culture and this is only one of the benefits, and that is going to bring brain health because you have to study and learn a lot of things that are going to give you the strength that you need to be one of the best. What about the cells they will be alert and you’ll be in the capacity to understand a lot of new things. You’ll wield the sword of the intelligence with the sapience of the wise and will help the others to do and be better. The motion of your thoughts working as a machine will give you no opportunity to do wrong things driving you into the right way.
Of course that this is going to bring you the welfare in your life because you will share this with so many friends and this is going to make happy a lot of people too. There are as you see, just benefits for you, the knowledge will involve a lot of beautiful things that will change your life and this things will be turn into great moments for you. And suddenly you will se how lovely is life and to know that you have something that can help the others. Thinking about you imagine the happiness of being the bearer of good news wherever you go and giving your friendship without any impairment because you have the tools that make you understand and live with those people and show them the thousand things that you know and can tell to them. So good so well, your feelings will be high quality and so soon you’ll be able to understand the problematic of the world and having the weapons to solve a lot of things and of course without any fear because you know what exactly are you doing. Like an athlete you will want to improve all the days what you know and this is unbelievable and all this just practicing and learning a new language, something that hides a lot of new things that you are going to discover, that is going to move all the fibers of your body because you will bring the knowledge with you. Is going to give you the preparation that you need and a lot of things more that you are going to have in your life for your own happiness.

The quantity of rewards is infinite, you will have a huge improvement of your culture and this is only one of the benefits, and that is going to bring brain health because you have to study and learn a lot of things that are going to give you the strength that you need to be one of the best. What about the cells they will be alert and you’ll be in the capacity to understand a lot of new things. You’ll wield the sword of the intelligence with the sapience of the wise and will help the others to do and be better. The motion of your thoughts working as a machine will give you no opportunity to do wrong things driving you into the right way.
Of course that this is going to bring you the welfare in your life because you will share this with so many friends and this is going to make happy a lot of people too. There are as you see, just benefits for you, the knowledge will involve a lot of beautiful things that will change your life and this things will be turn into great moments for you. And suddenly you will se how lovely is life and to know that you have something that can help the others. Thinking about you imagine the happiness of being the bearer of good news wherever you go and giving your friendship without any impairment because you have the tools that make you understand and live with those people and show them the thousand things that you know and can tell to them. So good so well, your feelings will be high quality and so soon you’ll be able to understand the problematic of the world and having the weapons to solve a lot of things and of course without any fear because you know what exactly are you doing. Like an athlete you will want to improve all the days what you know and this is unbelievable and all this just practicing and learning a new language, something that hides a lot of new things that you are going to discover, that is going to move all the fibers of your body because you will bring the knowledge with you. Is going to give you the preparation that you need and a lot of things more that you are going to have in your life for your own happiness.