Humans are social creatures, and it’s no wonder that a plethora of communication tools have infiltrated our lives in our desire to pursue social interaction amongst peers. As part of our fundamental nature, fostering solid connections and building relationships with others are integral to our overall wellbeing.
This is also what makes language learning so enticing – opening new opportunities for people to form new bonds and glean profound insights into a myriad of cultures that you would otherwise never have access to.
Below are several social benefits you can reap upon mastering the Korean language!
1. A window to another culture
Did you know that meaningful interactions with people from other cultures are vastly boosted upon grasping a new language? Put simply: the more languages you speak, the better you understand those around you. This includes their body language, personalities, and cultural behaviours.
In an increasingly global community, this is a relevant skill set to possess whilst communicating with people from different countries. For starters, your social awareness and understanding of different cultural beliefs upon mastering a foreign language can fuel you to handle social situations with others effortlessly.
Learning a new language also enables you to appreciate each country’s various communication practices and customs wonderfully. For example, learning Korean helps you become more aware of how to conduct yourself in a respectful manner if you were to travel to Korea.
2. Understand different perspectives
A study has shown that bilingual individuals get the best of both worldviews, for they are open to understanding different beliefs and practices. Thus, picking up a new language such as Korean allows you to view things from another perspective and improves your ability to interpret new contexts.
Throughout your life, there will be social situations that require you to put yourself in the shoes of others. Being able to deduce how the people around you feel and think is a convenient skill to have, for it aids you in fostering a deeper connection with them. This puts language learners at a distinct advantage from their monolingual counterparts, as they can swiftly contextualise vital information – even if it is unclear.
As such, if you have always yearned to get acquainted with the likes of Korea and its dynamic way of life, then learning Korean via a Korean language course in Singapore grants you the perfect opportunity to do so!
3. Improved communication skills
Even though English is considered a universal language for most parts of the world, certain countries solely speak their Mother Tongue. The English vocabulary is foreign to these groups of people, which can make conversing with them challenging.
Even if you are not fully fluent in the new language yet, at the very least, you can still rely on certain words and phrases that you are familiar with during your conversation with international speakers. By doing so, you get to convey your thoughts and intentions clearer, effectively reducing the possibility of misunderstandings that may occur.
While practising the language with other learners or native speakers, you will also pick up new grammar, conjugation, and syntax, which eventually helps you identify similar elements in your native language. Hence, it is a win-win situation, for you also get to improve your linguistic expressions in your Mother Tongue!
4. Opening doors to further language learning
When consistently exposed to a multitude of languages, your phonologic, morphologic, and syntactic skills are strengthened. These are all critical attributes that affect your literacy development and learning process. Here is the science behind it: upon familiarising yourself with new word structures and speaking in different inflexions, the speed of picking up a new language is significantly faster.
Furthermore, scientists have proven that each foreign language you attain serves as a scaffold for learning another one easily. For example, a person who understands German will comprehend a vast proportion of the Dutch vocabulary quickly. While all languages may sound different, they often share identical grammatical structures and linguistic concepts. Thus, once you get acquainted with a particular language, learning the next one should be an easier feat!
Conclusion
If you have always dreamed of picking up Korean but never went ahead in fear of it being too difficult, sign up for one of our immersive Korean language courses today! At Sejong Korean Language School, we pride ourselves on offering engaging classes that can help students speak the language fluently and quickly using our tried-and-tested teaching methodologies!