When I was in high school, I was required to take a foreign language. I somehow made it through French 4. Turns out, years later, I’ve only retained a smattering of it. But I love to travel and being able to speak at least a bit of the native language makes the trip so much more enjoyable.
In an earlier post, I mentioned that the second thing I do every morning is exercise. What’s the first? I log into Duolingo and see how far I can get with my 5 hearts for the day.
Since I really didn’t remember much, I started at the beginning. And some days I do better than others. Since I log in on my phone, I tend to make a lot of typos due to fat fingers and later mentally chastise myself for making stupid mistakes.
Learning a foreign language, whether one new to you or a brush up from the past, is a great way to keep your mind thinking and active. It requires your mind to think in a different way. The phraseology is often different than English, and it helps keep your memory sharp. Eventually – or so I’ve been told – your brain will automatically think in the natural cadence of the foreign language. But that’s definitely not the case as a beginner. At least for me!
Duolingo offers 40 different languages for English speakers. And you can opt to upgrade to Super Duolingo if you don’t want to be limited to just 5 mistakes a day.
So what foreign language do you want to learn? What language has always piqued your interest or have you thought would be cool to know? Duolingo makes learning so easy. And who knows where you might be able to use it in the future!
2 responses to “A Foreign Language Can Open Your Mind”
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