4 Ways Learning a Second Language Boosts Your Career

4 Ways Learning a Second Language Boosts Your Career Suzy S. Want an easy way to boost your career? Learning a second language can be a fantastic way to get a leg up. Learn more in this guest post from our friends at Lingualia Finding employment in a struggling economy isnt always easy, especially if you are planning to move to another country or if you are simply looking for a new employer altogether. So, how do you improve your chances of getting the job? Learning a foreign language is highly recommended becasue of the benefits and advantages in the workplace today. Understanding and being able to speak foreign languages can greatly improve your own chances of being hired into any position you desire, regardless of where you are currently living. The Benefits of Learning a Second Language Obviously, if youre moving to another country, understanding the native language of the country can drastically improve your quality of life, as well as your chances of landing a position or a job. Learning a second language not only helps you connect and communicate with individuals from around the world, it helps you  get to know more about other cultures and lifestyles globally. This will give you insight into various nationalities and countries  with which you may be doing business. Youll be able to  better communicate with contacts you work with, including business associates, coworkers, and even potential partners. The more capable you are of communicating with business professionals from around the world, the easier it becomes to solidify working relationships and to create new potential business partnerships. If youre an entrepreneur, its much easier to find investors and those interested in your business model if you are capable of speaking and understanding their language without the assistance of a translator, as this helps to build trust and a real working relationship. Finally, learning foreign languages also improves your overall mental agility. Understanding more than one language can improve your memory and  slow the brains aging. (Editors note: learn more about the mental benefits of being bilingual here!) Methods for Learning a Second Language So now that you know the benefits, whats the best way of learning a foreign language? These days, its possible to learn a language with the use of both traditional and online methods. While language tutoring is a go-to method, as youll get a customized lesson plan based on your language-learning goals and learning style, its also smart to use additional tools and resources in between your lessons. Lingualia,  for example, is a free online tool and resource with games and interactive lessons. Incorporate private lessons and additional resources into your learning, and youll set yourself up for career-boosting success! Alfonso Sachettini is the co-founder of Lingualia, a mobile application for language learning available for iOS and Android.   Photo by Mays Business School at Texas AM University Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher

Linguistic Difficulties When Learning Russian

Linguistic Difficulties When Learning Russian Why is Russian Difficult to Learn? ChaptersThe First Difficulty of the Russian Language: the Cyrillic AlphabetThe Second Difficulty of the Russian Language: An Often Complex PronunciationThe Third Difficulty of the Russian Language: The DeclensionsThe Fourth Difficulty of the Russian Language: Grammar and ConjugationRigor is Important if You Would Like to Speak Russian!Are you soon visiting the Moscow capital of Russia? Are you soon going on a several month language stay in Saint Petersburg? Are you looking to have a change of scenery and to discover more deeply what the Russian culture has to offer?In any case, knowing how to speak Russian can be an advantage and create a link with Russian locals.When attempting to learn a language, one must be aware of the language's main difficulties. Learning Russian presents some difficulties, as we will see, but arming yourself with willpower and motivation will remain your best weapon if you are looking to succeed!The Mosalingua platform, recognized among other things for its l anguage learning methods, classifies Dostoevsky's language as the third most complex language to learn after the difficult Mandarin and Arabic.According to the LA Times:There are aspects of Chinese that make it hard for foreigners to learn, and there are aspects that make it difficult for native Chinese. I think the one that gets the most press â€" and is in some sense the most controversial â€" is the Chinese characters. For alphabetic languages, there’s what they call a virtuous loop between the writing, speaking and listening â€" those three categories constitute one composite skill. But the problem with Chinese, and to some degree Japanese, is it breaks that loop. Speaking does not necessarily help your reading. Reading doesn’t necessarily help your writing. These become three different skills that have to be mastered in parallel, and separately.But though learning Russian will not be as difficult as learning to speak Mandarin Chinese, learning to speak Russian will not be a s easy as learning Spanish or French. However, this ranking remains totally subjective and will vary from one person to another.To cheer you up a bit, Ioannis Ikonomou, a European official in the Brussels Parliament and a man who is fluent in more than forty different languages, considers that the most complex language is Hungarian, before Mandarin Chinese or Russian...Rigor is Important if You Would Like to Speak Russian!Russian is far from the Latin alphabet. So don't forget to study up on that.We will never stop repeating it, but learning a foreign language cannot be improvised. Rigor, regular work, and motivation are the main ingredients for success. This is especially true in the case of learning Russian.To gain fluency in oral expression, why not decide to learn the Russian declensions via a worksheet and repeat this over several days. This will ultimately help you to gain a real handle on the Russian language and its particularities.As suggested by the Mosalingua method, lear ning a language requires an almost daily investment  if you want to perfect the assets your learned yesterday and incorporate the novelties you learned today. It is a long-term job, which will have to be repeated, day after day, to validate your skills, deepen certain notions, and progress in Russian quickly!If you are going to live in Russia, knowing more about the local culture will definitely come in handy.And don't forget: some of the greatest writers who’ve ever lived wrote only in Russian.  If you learn Russian, you’ll be able to read the likes of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Bulgakov, Chekhov, Gogol, Pushkin, and many more, all in the original.In short:This article is not intended to discourage the learner in his quest for mastery of Pushkin's language. Nevertheless, it is a fair  warning about the difficulties of the Russian language and a reminder  that you will probably encounter them on your learning adventure.However, the picture is far from dreary. There are many aspects wh ere the Russian language is much simpler than others. For example, verb conjugation means that it is not necessary to use a pronoun, because the verbal forms are distinct and indirectly imply the said pronoun. Similarly, there is no hesitation between a definite or indefinite article. Many second language learners (for whom Russian is not a mother tongue) testify to the pleasure of speaking this language, which some truly consider to be a great work of art.Moreso than for any other language, it will not be possible to learn to speak Russian properly if one is not really motivated. It requires a well-defined learning objective and some real motivation (a long trip to Russia, working in Russia, a year of study in Moscow or Saint Petersburg, etc...).