Learning A Foreign Language

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If you hate traveling and have no real interest or need in learning a foreign language, it would probably be pretty hard for someone to convince you that it’s a good idea to go to a non-English speaking country for a year to learn that language and culture. I would suggest not reading this essay if that is your situation. However, if you are someone who has never travelled but has always wanted to and the idea of learning a foreign language seems fun this essay might encourage you. Nicholas Kristoff has written an article on his opinion of studying abroad. Although Kristoff comes off as condescending to his fellow Americans and is not wholly realistic, Americans should study abroad because it does bring a more complete understanding of a foreign …show more content…

And East!” Nicholas Kristoff states that he believes all young Americans should study abroad to master a foreign language and culture. He states that studying abroad and learning more languages leads to success by using Utah as an example since it is one of the most successful states to do business in and is “a center for trade and global companies”. Kristoff reveals that foreign universities send more than triple the amount of students abroad than American universities. His counter to this would be for all Americans to learn Spanish but in another country because it would be thrilling and produce a more solid foundation in learning other languages. He also teases that learning in class is not as effective as studying abroad by having the reader test themselves with a question he has invented to prove this by asking if the reader knows how to say doorknob in a language they studied. Kristoff then tells a joke that “What is a person called who speaks no foreign language at all? Answer: An American.” To get his point across on how he feels about his fellow Americans. He then briefly moves on to a more serious topic stating that Americans are unaware of the impressions we give off and how lacking our foreign policy is. Kristoff’s solution to this would be a gap year that gives a college semester credit for gap years taken in non-English speaking countries. Kristoff contends the idea when discussing how temporarily living in another country can “broaden perspectives” and uses his own experiences and the effects it had on

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