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<h1 class="gmail-storyheadline">Multilingualism Is a Great Investment in Your Human Capital</h1><div class="gmail-clear"></div><div class="gmail-permalinkphotobox"><div class="gmail-photowrap"><a class="gmail-modal-photosingle135722" href="https://www.nyunews.com/2018/02/11/2-12-ops-razuri/#photo"><img src="https://www.nyunews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ops-razuri.jpg" alt="" style="width: 100%;" class="gmail-catboxphoto gmail-feature-image"></a><div class="gmail-modal-photosingle135722 gmail-photo-enlarge elusive el-icon-zoom-in"></div></div><div class="gmail-clear"></div><div class="gmail-photobottom"></div></div><div class="gmail-storydetails"><p><span class="gmail-storybyline"> <a href="https://www.nyunews.com/staff/?writer=Diego%20Maguina%20Razuri">Diego Maguina Razuri</a>, Contributing Writer</span><br><span class="gmail-storydate"><span class="gmail-time-wrapper">February 12, 2018</span></span></p></div><div class="gmail-sharing gmail-sharing-top"><a class="gmail-commentscroll" href="https://www.nyunews.com/2018/02/11/2-12-ops-razuri/#respond"><div class="gmail-sharing-icon gmail-sno-comments gmail-fa gmail-fa-comments-o gmail-sno-dark gmail-sharing-mobile-hide"></div></a><a class="gmail-modal-share" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyunews.com%2F2018%2F02%2F11%2F2-12-ops-razuri%2F" title="Share on Facebook" target="_blank"><div class="gmail-sharing-icon gmail-sharing-mobile gmail-sno-facebook gmail-dashicons gmail-dashicons-facebook-alt gmail-sno-dark gmail-sharing-mobile-hide"></div></a><a class="gmail-modal-share" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Multilingualism+Is+a+Great+Investment+in+Your+Human+Capital&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyunews.com%2F%3Fp%3D135722" title="Tweet This Story" target="_blank"><div class="gmail-sharing-icon gmail-sharing-mobile gmail-sno-twitter gmail-dashicons gmail-dashicons-twitter gmail-sno-dark gmail-sharing-mobile-hide"></div></a><a><div class="gmail-sharing-icon gmail-sno-email gmail-dashicons gmail-dashicons-email-alt gmail-sno-dark gmail-sharing-mobile-hide"></div></a></div>
<span class="gmail-storycontent"><p id="gmail-graph1">If you walk around
Manhattan and stop paying attention to your phone, you can hear several
incomprehensible phrases from languages you might not even know existed.
As a person who grew up in South America, this is exactly what happened
to me during my everyday life in Chinatown. Most of us have faced the
challenge of learning a new language — all the time, effort and money
that goes into it might make you question its merit. However, learning a
new language is a rewarding effort and should be encouraged at NYU.</p>
<p id="gmail-graph2">We have all heard the mainstream arguments about why learning a new language is beneficial, such as it <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10126883/Why-learn-a-foreign-language-Benefits-of-bilingualism.html"><span style="font-weight:400">increases</span></a>
your cognitive skills and helps you understand other cultures. While
everything has an opportunity cost, there is a practical reason why you
should learn a foreign language — it boosts your future income. A recent
<a href="https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/0034653054638256"><span style="font-weight:400">study</span></a>
has shown that there is a two to three percent increase in wages for
college graduates who speak a second language. While this may seem
modest, an article by The Economist <a href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/03/language-study"><span style="font-weight:400">explains</span></a>
that if you additionally include an annual one percent real wage
increase and compound all for 40 years, you end up with an extra $67,000
by retirement. However, not all languages have the same value. In the
same article, The Economist points out that the premium for speaking a
second language differs depending on each language. For example, a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/9-languages-which-will-help-you-earn-more-in-britain-2016-9/#8-italian-2"><span style="font-weight:400">study</span></a>
in the United Kingdom showed that German and Arabic speakers’ incomes
are on average greater than those of Italian speakers. No one can tell
you which is the best language to learn, but there are rational choices
if you plan on increasing your earnings.</p>
<p id="gmail-graph3">Despite tangible evidence that bilingualism has been linked to higher earnings, education systems in the United States <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/05/filling-americas-language-education-potholes/392876/"><span style="font-weight:400">do not stress</span></a>
the importance of knowing another language. Only seven percent of
college students are enrolled in a language course, and less than one
percent of adults can claim they are fluent in a foreign language they
learned in a classroom. The U.S. is <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/13/learning-a-foreign-language-a-must-in-europe-not-so-in-america/"><span style="font-weight:400">trailing</span></a>
behind other countries. It is true that European geography makes it
easier and more compelling to adopt policies requiring multilingualism
compared to an isolated U.S. But NYU offers many resources for students
to learn new languages. As a global institute, NYU’s foreign language
policy is exceptional. The College of Arts and Science; Steinhardt
School of Culture, Education and Human Development and the Global
Liberal Studies program require undergraduate students to speak a
foreign language at an Intermediate II level before graduation.
Meanwhile, students from the other NYU schools and programs are still
able to take a language as an elective course. NYU offers courses for
more than 15 different languages, and the Columbia Language Exchange
program <a href="http://cas.nyu.edu/academic-programs/academic-support-services/columbia-language-exchange.html"><span style="font-weight:400">allows</span></a> NYU students to enroll in even more language courses. The Speaking Freely non-credit program <a href="https://cas.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/cas/speakingfreely.html"><span style="font-weight:400">allows</span></a>
students to engage in short weekly learning sessions to learn popular
languages at no cost and without any graded assignments. Additionally,
NYU <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/academics/studying-abroad.html"><span style="font-weight:400">offers</span></a>
fully immersive language experiences at a variety of campuses across
the world, so that students can be taught their courses in French while
in France, for example.</p>
<p id="gmail-graph4">Learning a new language, while difficult, is rewarding.
Whether speaking a new language increases your future earnings or allows
you to immerse yourself in different cultures, there are many benefits
to be reaped, so try it out. What do you have to lose?</p>
<p id="gmail-graph5"><i><span style="font-weight:400">Opinions expressed on
the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our
publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.</span></i></p>
<p id="gmail-graph6"><i><span style="font-weight:400">A version of this appeared in the Monday, February 12 print edition. Email Diego Maguina Razuri at </span></i><a href="mailto:opinion@nyunews.com"><i><span style="font-weight:400">opinion@nyunews.com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-weight:400">.</span></i></p></span>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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