Some people state the importance of languages as being the vital cause of human interactions improvements, but others believe that languages are much more important than that. It’s what shapes cultures, identities, and write histories. It’s not just a group of letters standing next to each other to form a sentence, it’s a bridge between cultures and a narrator to those who lost their voices.
You can know if a nation is rude or not by their vocabulary, and if they respect women or not by how they place their pronouns. The semantics and structure of a language show how rich it is, is it only made for communication, or for a goal deeper than that?
One of the main reasons behind learning a new language is expressing different emotions, building communities, holding meaningful conversations, and even negotiating with others. In similarity, ignorance of the most common languages in the world such as the English language, Chinese, and Spanish holds you back from opening up to other cultures and getting abroad work opportunities.
The importance of learning a foreign language
- Helps students to open up to different cultures.
- Teaches students creative thinking, and problem-solving skills through linguistic comparisons.
- Increases their chances to local and international work opportunities.
- Gives students the chance to understand the scientific jargon and expressions.
- Enhances the learner’s research skills.
- Improves memory and resists Alzheimer’s.
Multi-Languages Education
As a result of understanding the vital role that learning new languages plays in our children’s future, and how that fits the 2030 vision of the Saudi Kingdom, most schools now have their eyes on adding as many languages as they can to the curriculum. This is why Rowad Al Khaleej International Schools (RAIS) has made its number one priority is to adopt the multi-languages education, in addition to holding close to our Arabic roots as well, understanding that evolution won’t ever mean abandoning our mother language.
In our time, the definition of an illiterate person is simply one who only knows only one language as a second language. Statistics have shown that 1 billion people are learning English as a second language the minute you’re reading this blog! While 750 million people used to speak it as their second language as well in 2014, a number that has jumped to be 1.5 billion since 2014 and till now, according to the British Cultural Council.
The best way to learn a new language
One of the main reasons behind the constant failure to learn a new language is how we still rely on the old traditional ways of learning, like memorizing vocabulary or trying to understand all the grammatical rules in a day or two! This is why our kids study a language for years but still can’t hold one conversation fluently.
This is why mixing fun with learning is the key; edutainment is one of the modern ways of positive learning that can help you learn any language in sixth months by applying the following rules:
- Learning by watching movies and series: Using art to learn is a smart way to teach your kids through fun activities, this way they won’t feel that it’s “Studying time” that boring time of the day, instead, it’s the only time they enjoy all day long. This is how you imitate another countries culture through their language. RAIS monitors the content your kids are exposed to, in order to make sure it fits their age and culture.
- Reading short stories: One of the internal activities to the English and Chinese courses at RAIS is the comprehension of the languages through short stories that are easy to learn and rich with new vocabulary.
- Idioms games: One of the most important aspects of any language is its idioms, it brings you tight with the cultural aspects of these nations. A game you can easily play in class is writing a list of idioms each one on a card, asking every student to flip one and explain the meaning behind that idiom, when you get one right you get a point. The classmate with the highest points wins.
Languages programs at Rowad Al Khaleej International Schools
RAIS has always cared for teaching its student’s different languages to prepare them for what’s next; a great career, a better future, and an open mind. This is why they launched both English and Chinese learning programs to help their students find local and international job opportunities.
Contact us for more information about the fees and dates of the different language courses.