The Importance of Learning a Second Language

by Siyan Liu

First Year Writing Awards

2nd Place Winner, Category: Information

Whenever I wander around downtown in Nanjing, I often come across foreigners asking for directions in English. In most cases, I will smile enthusiastically and answer them back in English. In this way, we can understand each other and their problems are solved easily. As a Chinese student who has studied English for twelve years, I always hear people say learning a second language is unnecessary. It takes a lot of time to memorize complicated words, read boring linguistic textbooks and write papers in an unfamiliar language. They would rather die than do them. Although the learning process is difficult, I think, we can gain numerous benefits from learning a second language.

Firstly, learning a second language helps us solve problems easily, especially when traveling in a foreign country. I traveled in New Zealand with my friends after graduating from high school. We went to Wellington park because we heard kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand, was gathered in it. This kind of bird has no wings and tail but its break is long. More interestingly, kiwis have nostrils in their breaks. That's incredible. We listened carefully, trying to pick out the shrill cry “ keee-weee” in the forest, but in vain. At this moment, a lovely girl about 14 years old walked past us. She smiled and asked us curiously in English: “ What are you looking for?” “ Kiwis.” I replied, smiling back. “ Oh! The kiwi is regarded as the symbol of our nation! I will help you find this kind of bird.” She said with delight and led the way ahead of us. We thanked her. “ They are shaped like pears. When getting angry, a kiwi can kick another bird of its kind five feet away.” She giggled after saying this. We felt increasingly surprised. She continued introducing: “ Kiwis have weak eyesight. If they encounter a fence in daylight, they will bump into it like a blind man.” Just at that moment, we heard the familiar birdsong “ keee-weee”. “ Look! Here!” She pointed to the shrubs. A tawny Kiwi was hiding there. It had gray spots and dark brown stripes. “ Exactly!” We all screamed with excitement. Whenever I recall this travelling experience, I always ask myself: If I can’t speak English, how will I solve such problems?

After learning a second language, students can easily make friends with native speakers and effectively broaden their social circle. When I was in high school, twenty exchange students from Australia came to our school for exchange study. Four Australian girls were assigned to our class, and my family offered a home stay for one of them. Her name was Rose. We spent a week living together. Since Rose couldn't speak Chinese, we communicated in English. We talked about English films, such as Flipped, Dead Poets Society and The Devil Wears Prada. We shared our hobbies with each other. Rose told me that she really liked singing and reading poems. Thus, I taught her a simple Chinese song named Super Star and read an ancient Chinese poem “ Views In Springtime” for her. This poem was written by Du Fu, a male poet of the Tang Dynasty. Since Rose was curious about the meaning of that ancient Chinese poem, I translated it to her briefly. I also told her that Du Fu described a desolate scene of Chang’an (the Capital of Tang Dynasty) in spring and expressed the feelings of sadness for missing his relatives. This poem could reflect the poet’s patriotism. Rose clapped excitedly after listening to my explanation. When Rose left for Australia, we exchanged email addresses for each other. Until now, we’ve kept writing to each other and sharing interesting things in life from time to time. She also introduces her friends to me. I’m glad that I learned a second language: English. In this way, I easily made friends with Rose and effectively broadened my social circle.

Students can appreciate cultural diversity and shape their ways of thinking by learning a second language. I once read The New Yorker magazine to improve my English. I love reading the food column, which introduces excellent cuisine of different countries. I remembered the article Coming To Ackee and Salt Fish Jamaica’s National Dish written by Bryan Washington. Ackee and salt fish are sauteed lightly with peppers, onions, and spices. Jamaicans eat ackee and codfish alongside rice and peas, or with boiled green bananas, or just on plain white rice.The fish makes the dish salty and funky; the ackee gives it a consistency similar to scrambled eggs. It’s amazing to know this delicious Jamaica’s National Dish. In the article The Japanese Fried-Rice Omelette That Rewired My Brain, Bryan Washington described the Japanese perfect recipe: omurice. It is a cross between an omelette and Japanese fried rice. The simplicity of Japanese cuisine, which eschews strong spices, but that simplicity shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of flavor. On the contrary, the impact of each ingredient in a dish is even more pronounced because it contains only a handful of them, and of the absolute highest quality. The thing about omurice proves the thing about any simple dish: the intent of the cook is what comes through, the soulfulness. Food is bound up with culture. Every nation has its own food culture. As a foreigner, we can’t arbitrarily evaluate one culture merely because it’s different from that of our country. What we need to do is respecting different culture and keeping curiosity to learn. By learning a second language, I can appreciate cultural diversity, thus understanding this pluralistic world better.

When it comes to learning a second language, I have to admit that the learning process is difficult. As a Chinese student, I have learned English for twelve years and invested much time and energy in it: watching English films, reading English novels, listening to VOA News and writing English diaries. However, I still feel that I am not very good at English now. It is difficult to learn a second language but it's worth it. Through learning a second language, we can gain numerous benefits: solving problems when traveling, making friends with native speakers and shaping our ways of thinking. It's important to learn a second language. Hence, I hope each student can learn a second language and enjoy the learning process.

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Siyan Liu is a Chinese student from Jin Ling College, Nanjing Normal University. She is studying at Salem State University, majoring in English with an Education minor.