英文学以致用，领略语言之美。有道词典，不只是查单词，还带你看天下。
Learning a new language is a big deal.
学习一门新语言可是个了不起的大事。
You’re learning a completely new form of communication, and it enables you to communicate with people you never could have before.
你会学到一个全新的交流形式，而且这门语言会让你有机会与那些原本不可能与你有交集的人沟通。
But there’s benefits to learning a language that you might not have expected when you started the journey.
但在你开始这趟语言之旅时，还有很多好处是你不曾意料到的。
I’ve personally experienced this having learned 3 languages in my life (Korean, English, and Spanish).
就我个人的经历来说，我学过三门外语（韩语，英语和西班牙语）。
Think about the effect that losing weight has on someone’s life.
你就想想减肥给一个人的生活带来的影响吧。
While most people get into it for a healthier lifestyle, there can be surprising benefits like increased confidence, being more outgoing, and increased mental clarity.
大多数人减肥是为了一个更健康的生活方式，但是它还有很多让人惊喜的好处，比如说增加自信心，让人变得更外向，精神也会变得更清爽。
The same thing can apply to language learning.
学外语也是同理。
In this article, we’ll share the 12 surprising benefits you’ll experience when you learn a language.
在这篇文章中，我们将与你分享，学外语会带来的12个意外惊喜。
1. Learn anything faster
学任何东西都更快了
Learning a new language is mental agility training at its best.
学外语就是在训练一个人的思维敏捷度。
The exercise in cognitive problem solving can without a doubt be applied to almost any problem we want to solve in other areas.
它会训练我们解决认知问题的能力，这无疑有助于我们解决其它领域的任何问题。
Your memory retention is also improved when learning a new language.
你的记忆保持能力也会得到提升。
Absorbing and retaining more information can significantly shorten your learning curve, because you can spend more time learning new information instead of re-learning something you’ve already learned before.
吸收和保留更多信息能够极大地缩短你的学习周期，因为你能够花更多时间在学习新资讯上，而不是反复咀嚼你已经学过的东西。
But it doesn’t stop there.
还不止这样。
Once you learn a new language, not only are you able to learn other languages faster (simply due to understanding the process), but you’ve already retained key skills for learning several other languages without even knowing it.
一旦你学会了一门新语言，你不仅能够更快地学习其它的语言（因为你理解了这个学习进程），而且你在不知不觉中已经具备了学习外语的关键技能。
For example, if you recently learned how to speak Spanish, you’ve automatically entered the world of languages from the latin root, such as Portuguese, Italian, French, and Romanian.
比如说，如果你最近学会了西班牙语，那么你就自动进入了拉丁语系的世界，同属这个语系的语言有葡萄牙语、意大利语、法语和罗马尼亚语。
In fact, between these languages there are over a thousand words that are exactly the same, if not very similar to each other.
实际上，在这些语言之间有着上千个单词其实是一样或是十分近似的。
Notice the similarity of the words between these languages.
记得注意这些语言之间单词的近似度。
2. Improve your math skills
提升你的数学能力
For those of us who didn’t grow up with natural talents in mathematics, no need to fear.
那些从小就不太擅长数学问题的人们，不要感到害怕。
A study was done at Massachusetts in 2007, where The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages stated that:
位于马塞诸塞州的美国外语教学理事会在2007年做了一个研究，并申明：
“Children who study a foreign language, even when this second language study takes time away from the study of mathematics, outperform students who do not study a foreign language and have more mathematical instruction during the school day.”
“学习外语的孩子们，即便学习外语的时间占用了学习数学的时间，他们在学校的表现也会优于那些不学习外语而是花更多时间学习数学问题的孩子。”
In another study published in the University of Michigan’s Language Learning journal (Armstrong and Rogers, 1997), students who studied just one semester of a foreign language for just 90 minutes per week scored significantly higher in maths and language arts.
另一个相关研究（阿姆斯特朗与罗格斯，1997年）在密歇根大学语言学习杂志上也发表了类似论断：仅一个学期内，每周花90分钟学习外语的学生们在数学和语言艺术课程中的得分明显更高。
If you think about it, it makes sense.
仔细想想，这些都是说得通的。
Learning a language involves a structural and logical process, which is the same type of thinking that makes you thrive in mathematics.
学习语言涉及到一个结构性和逻辑性的过程，而这正是帮助你在数学上取得进步的同种思维。
3. Become a better listener
成为一个更好的聆听者
This is a skillset that comes in handy for any situation throughout our lives.
这个技能在我们的一生中都会派上用场。
If you’re trying to build a real connection with anyone, there’s nothing better than intentional listening without interruption.
如果你想要与某人建立真正的联系，没有什么比不打断地专注聆听更有效的了。
This is one of the key elements taught in Dale Carnegie’s, How to Win Friends and Influence People.
这是戴尔·卡内基的《如何获得朋友和影响他人》一书中提到的关键要素之一。
When learning a language, there’s no choice but to train yourself to listen carefully, because you’re trying to make out every accent, pronunciation, and tone used by the other person.
学习外语的时候，你别无选择，必须训练自己学会仔细聆听，因为你得辨认出每个口音、每个发音和别人所使用的语调。
And if you’re just starting out, you’re forced to listen because you can’t speak the language!
如果你才刚开始学，那就更是要逼自己去听，因为你还完全不会说这个语言！
Most importantly, learning a new language helps you step into the shoes of people different to yourself and see the world in a completely different way—?therefore developing empathy for others.
更重要的是，学习一门新语言能帮你站在他人的角度去看这个世界——也因此，它会增强你的同理心。
4. Enhances your focus
加强你的注意力
In a study, published online in the journal, Brain and Language, individuals who spoke more than one language were observed through an fMRI, while performing word comprehension tasks.
一个在在线杂志《大脑与语言》上发布的研究调查中，研究者把掌握多门外语的人放到功能磁共振中进行观察，让他们在这种环境下完成词汇理解的任务。
Results showed that multi-lingual individuals were better at filtering out competing words than one-language speaking individuals.
结果表明，比起只会说一门语言的人，掌握多语言的人们能更好地过滤掉词汇中的干扰选项。
This ability to tune out competing words benefits in blocking out distractions to focus on the task at hand.
这个排除干扰项的能力有助于人们屏蔽掉让人分心的事物，从而专心于手中的工作。
As your listening skill improves, it only makes sense that it enhances your focus as well.
在你的聆听能力增强的同时，专注度也能得到提高。
Just like learning any new skill, learning a language requires your full, undivided attention.
就像学习其它新技能一样，学习新语言要求你要全身心地投入，聚精会神。
One slight distraction can mean the difference between one meaning and a completely different one.
稍微分心一些都会导致你无法辨别两种不同含义之间的差别。
Over time, your brain will be trained to maintain this level of focus.
随着时间流逝，你的大脑就会更加精于维护这种程度的注意力。
5. Boost your confidence
增强你的自信心
When we set out to achieve something and find success, it boosts our confidence levels?—?no matter how small the progress.
当我们成就了些什么，并获得成功时，这会增强我们的自信心——不管成果多么微小。
Even being able to carry a 30-second conversation with a native speaker can make you more confident, because you know it’s something you wouldn’t have been able to do before.
即便只是和母语者进行了30秒钟的对话，都能让你感到更自信，因为你知道，这是你以前没法做到的事情。
“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”?—?E.E. Cummings
“当我们相信自己时，我们便能迸发出好奇心、奇迹、无意识的喜悦，或者是去经历任何表现人类精神的事情。”——E.E.库明斯
I still remember the “aha moment” I experienced when I was living in Medellin, Colombia.
我还记得，我住在哥伦比亚麦德林市时经历过的“原来如此”时刻。
I was living with a roommate who couldn’t speak a word of English when I first moved in.
我刚搬进去时，当时的室友并不会说英语。
After a few months of using Rype to learn Spanish, I was able to get to a conversation level of fluency.
用软件学了几个月的西班牙语后，我逐渐能够通顺地与他进行对话了。
It amazed me how I was suddenly able to speak to someone that I couldn’t have fathomed speaking to before.
当我突然能够和从来无法对话的某人说话时，那种感觉很奇妙。
Needlessly to say, as the language barrier disappeared, our positive perception of each other increased dramatically, and so did our friendship.
语言的障碍消失了，我们对对方的积极认知就戏剧般地提升了，而我们的友情也得以迅速升温。
This confidence boost only pushed me to learn more, engage with more native speakers, and it translated into more confidence in every aspect of my life.
自信心的暴增让我想学习更多，与更多母语者对话，而这也转化为更强大的自信心，影响着我生活的方方面面。
Author of Lean Forward, Eric Holtzclaw, states that it is powerful how even a tiny change in perspective can pull you out of a funk and give “you the boost you need to take on that next challenge.”
《往前探索》一书的作者艾瑞克·霍尔兹克劳说过，一个细微的改变都能将你从恐惧中拉出来，并给予你迎接下一个挑战的信心，这是多么惊人啊。
6. Prevents potential brain diseases
预防潜在的脑部疾病
Improving our health is something that should be a priority for every one of us, no matter how old we are.
不管处于哪个年龄段，改善健康状况对于我们每个人来说都很重要。
Most of us consider improving our health in a few major areas, like our physical appearance.
大部分人通常只考虑健康的几个主要方面，比如说外在的物理表现。
But we tend to miss out on the most important part that runs our entire body?—?the brain.
可这样一来，我们就很容易忽略掉最重要的、掌控着我们全身的部位——大脑。
We are nothing without the vital functions of our brain, and we need to prioritize its health like we would with any other vital organ in our body.
如果没有大脑在发挥重要作用，人体就无法正常运转。所以，我们应该把大脑的健康放在第一位，就像我们对待身体其它器官那样。
When it comes to the brain, learning a new language can prevent or delay Alzheimer’s disease and dementia by 4.5 years.
学习一门新语言可以防止阿兹海默症和痴呆症的发作，或者延缓发作4.5年。
This is a far more powerful than the best drugs which only delay the symptoms by 6–12 months.
这比最好的药物还要有效，药物一般只能把病症延迟6-12个月。
The American Academy of Neurology has performed studies showing that speaking more than one language increases the amount of neural pathways in the brain, allowing information to be processed through a greater variety of channels.
美国神经学协会所做过的研究表明，掌握多种语言能增加大脑中神经通路的数量，使得信息能通过更多渠道得到处理。
7. Improve your English (or native language)
提高你的英语水平（或者母语水平）
We discussed how learning one language can help you pick up not only other languages, but familiarize yourself with languages originating from the same root.
我们说到学习外语如何能帮助你不仅学会另一门语言，还能让你熟悉与这门语言同源的其它语言。
What most people don’t mention enough, is that it can also help you improve your native language.
大多数人说得还不够明确的是，学外语还能帮助你提高自己的母语水平。
According to an Impact of the Second Language Education study, studying a second language alone will significantly improve your first language skills in areas relating to grammar, reading, vocabulary, and speaking skills.
根据一个关于第二语言教育的研究结果，学习第二语言本身能够在语法、阅读、单词以及口语技巧方面极大地提升你的母语能力。
This makes sense because learning a new language allows you to understand the structures and breakdown of a language, whereas this is something you likely intuitively picked up when you learned your native language.
这是说得通的，因为学习新语言让你能够理解一门语言的结构和分类，这也是你在学习自己的母语时能够直观地感受到的东西。
8. Increase your creativity
增强你的创造性
Language learning is a lot like putting together the pieces of a new puzzle.
学习语言感觉很像一步一步地解开一个新谜题。
You understand several, but not all of the words that are thrown at you, so you have to force yourself to be creative and fill the missing gaps on your own.
你懂得个别单词，但并非所有出现在你面前的词汇，所以你不得不强迫自己去发挥创造性，以弥补你知识的空缺。
This research concludes that bilingual individuals have a more “out of the box” thinking approach than monolingual individuals.
研究证明，精通双语的人们比只懂得一门语言的人们更有跳脱性思维。
While most creativity training occurs in waves (meaning on and off), there’s no taking breaks when you’re having a conversation with someone.
大多数创造力的出现都是断断续续的，不过，当你正和某人进行谈话时，它就不得不持续运作了。
You either have to force yourself to become creative in your interpretation and speaking skills, or you’ll need to face up to the awkward silence that follows.
要么你得逼自己运用创造力来理解对方的话，然后维系这段对话，要么你就得面临无话可说的尴尬场面了。
9. Culturally knowledgeable
文化知识更加丰富
Language learning is not only about communicating in a foreign language, but it’s about experiencing a new culture.
学习外语不只是你可以用外语对话，你还会体验一个新的文化。
The first reason is that meeting foreign people is embedded in the core of language learning.
第一个原因是，与外国人面对面本来就是语言学习的核心。
In order to practice and improve your new language, you’ll need to work with a language teacher, use conversation exchanges, or attend language meetups.
为了练习和提升你的外语能力，你得向外语教师学习、多多与人交流，或者参加语言聚会。
This is similar to how you need to just ride the bicycle instead of watching videos about it: it’s just part of the process.
这跟练习骑单车是同理的，你得亲自去骑，而不是光看看别人骑单车的电视画面：这是学习过程的一部分。
The majority of conflicts between people in the world come from a lack of understanding of the other side.
世界上大多数人与人之间的冲突都是因为对对方不够理解。
Studying a new language not only helps you understand where the other person is coming from, but the cultural knowledge you gain can help others feel more connected to you.
学习一门新语言不仅能帮助你理解对方的背景，你从中学到的文化知识还能帮你更容易与人亲近。
10. Open up new career opportunities
带来新的职业机会
In the past decade, we’ve experienced a rapidly growing trend of globalization.
在过去十年中，我们经历了全球化的急速发展。
With the Internet era, there is no such thing as doing local business.
在互联网时代，已经没有本地生意可言了。
Nearly every business that opens up today is an online business, and has the ability to reach a global market in seconds.
今时今日，几乎每一个生意都是在线的，并且都能分分钟接触到国际市场。
Big corporations are working fast to expand internationally to Asia, Europe, and South America, and understanding a foreign language will in the future likely become as standard as knowing Microsoft Word.
大型企业都在加速自己往亚洲、欧洲和南美洲的扩张进程，在未来，懂得一门外语将和熟练操作微软办公软件一样，成为职位招聘的基本要求。
Irene Missen, a language specialist at a top recruitment agency, Euro London, says that languages can open doors for you, and estimates a language can add between 10% and 15% to your wage.
艾琳·密森是某个高级招聘中介机构的语言专家，她说道，外语技能能为你带来更多职业机会，而且她还预估，一门外语能让你的薪资增加10%-15%。
When it comes to advancing your career, it’s critical to leave no doors closed.
当事关职业发展时，你得时刻敞开大门。
Learning a new language takes time, and it’s far better to learn it before you need it than to be unprepared at your next job interview.
学习一门新语言需要花时间，但是，在你真正需要它之前就学会，总比你毫无准备地应对下一个工作面试要好得多。
11. Experience a new way of traveling
体验一种新的旅行方式
This is a big one, and often one that’s hard to understand unless you know another language.
这是很重要的一项，而且除非你会外语，不然你也很难理解这点乐趣。
For example, learning how to speak Spanish before you visit Spain for the first time, will give you an entirely different travel experience versus not knowing the language.
比如说，在你首次去西班牙旅行之前学会西班牙语会让你整个旅行体验大不一样。
When you can speak the language of the place you’re traveling to, you’re no longer dependent on the typical tourism tips that you’ll get from Trip advisor.
当你掌握了旅行目的地的语言，你就不再需要依赖那些旅游小贴士了。
Instead, you can build relationships with the locals, and discover restaurants, hot spots, and excursions that tourism websites will never be able to share with you.
你可以与当地人建立关系，去发现当地的美食店、热门景点以及旅游网站无法分享给你的独特旅游路线。
You get to experience the new culture from the eyes of a local, instead of a tourist.
这样，你就能够以一个当地人的眼光来体验全新的文化，而不是个观光客。
12. Deepen your relationships
加深你的人际关系
Almost everyone who comes from a different cultural background can probably empathize with this point.
几乎每一个来自不同文化背景的人都能对这句话产生同感。
With my limited ability to speak Korean, I struggled growing up with Korean family members.
我的韩语水平有限，所以和韩国籍的家庭成员一起成长曾经让我纠结万分。
Luckily, I was able to improve my skills over time (surprisingly, from learning Spanish).
随着时间的流逝，我很幸运地逐渐提升了自己的韩语能力（意外的是，在学习西班牙语的帮助下）。
But I constantly see people who struggle to have that connection with their family members, friends, or even life partner, because of this language barrier.
但是我总能看到人们就因为这道语言的障碍而很难与他们的家人、朋友，甚至生活伴侣进行沟通。
As we shared in this post, the majority of the world’s problem comes down to communication problems.
世界大多数问题都源于沟通障碍。
And there’s no bigger barrier to communication than the languages we are able to speak with each other.
而最大的沟通障碍，就是我们用来与对方交流的语言。
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