A detailed article on the benefits of multilingualism (or of knowing multiple languages) from the BBC estimates that around 60 percent of the world’s population know at least two languages, while that percentage here in the U.S, according to the most recent census data, is an incredibly low 22 percent.
According to an article by Quartz, most European school systems teach children around two foreign languages, as well as their native language, before they reach ten years of age. Most Americans learn zero, or at the very least a smattering of Spanish in high school.
The problems of the American educational system aside, it’s incredibly important to learn a different language, and it becomes even more crucial when you travel abroad.
Imagine you’re traveling to Spain; it’s your bucket list trip, the one you’ve been pinching pennies for almost a decade to achieve. You finally make it there and you’ve found this awesome local restaurant. You get ready to order, but…you can’t read the menu! It’s all in Spanish, and there aren’t any pictures to help you!
