Communication makes the world go round. It makes us interact with one another, it tells us stories, it makes us learn new concepts, and it makes us wiser and understands someone else. Communication in our language connects us to our own culture, our history, and it enables us to accept the chances that life gives us. If your own language already enables you to open so many doors, what would a second language enable?
OPEN FOR A NEW LANGUAGE?
Some of us get familiar with a second native language from their childhood on, growing up in a bilingual environment with parents from different origins. Others might get the concept of a second language when moving to another country at a young age. For others, mastering a second language do not in sight before secondary school. I personally always wonder how effective learning a language at school really is. It is of great help to get a solid basis and especially to get into the rules of grammar. Still, can you really get a grasp on a second language without immersing yourself in the other culture and without hearing that language all around you on the street?
Many people often ask me how it is possible that I speak the many languages that I speak. One calls it the talent; the other calls it a sixth sense. I do believe that it differs from person to person whether it will be easier for you to learn a foreign language, or to solve difficult mathematical problems. However, I also believe that it is a case of being open-minded; do you really want to improve your Alfa-skills, such as culture, language, and arts, or do you opt for improved Beta-qualities, like mathematics, physics, and chemistry. In the end is all about personal preference, and I do believe that personal preference always refers back to the interests and situations that you are creating during your upbringing and especially the social environment in which you will find yourself.
A DIFFERENT REALITY
I cannot imagine myself a life without speaking different languages. From first-hand experience, I have seen that speaking one or more foreign languages enable yourself to connect more to someone else than any other skill. It also enables you to understand a different culture, a different way of life, thoughts that are not the same as yours. Without a doubt, working experience and your study background are important pillars for both your professional and private life, but nothing will open more doors for you than mastering one or more foreign languages. Nothing can connect you more to someone else, or to a foreign environment, than understanding and interacting. As Nelson Mandela once said: ¨If you talk to a man in a language that he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.¨
Doing an internship abroad is about much more than the working experience. It is about developing you within a completely different environment, standing on your own feet, and interacting with people who think and communicate differently than you, and who do not talk your native language. An internship abroad enables you more than anything the chance to master another language. It will make you realize that the world that you see from the window of your bedroom is not the real world, but just an extremely tiny piece of it. The reality in which you have always lived and accepted to be the truth suddenly seems to fade away entirely in another reality with a different truth.
I would highly recommend anyone in the world, young and old, no matter what color, religion, origin, social status and study background, to allow himself or herself the chance to gain this experience. To leave your comfort zone and jump into the unknown.
Have the ambition to grow as a person. Be curious, embrace new opportunities, and don´t be scared to do something different. Choose your destination and go for it. To get the maximum out of your period abroad, choose an internship that fits your interests and that connects to your future career. Then just pack your suitcases and go. Fly away, immerse yourself in the unknown, get lost in a language that you don´t speak, get lost in a culture that you don´t know, and get lost in a new city without having a map. Learn to stand on your own two feet and to rely on your own skills and don´t feel too proud to accept help. Step by step you will find your way.
Time flies and new languages, cultures, friends, and adventures are waiting for you. Many doors that are still closed are waiting for you to open them, so don´t wait longer and apply for a life-changing internship now. You will only realize how extensively you have developed yourself much later when you look back. It is something that everyone can tell you, but you have to undergo it yourself to understand this impact.
All the best,
