Welcome to our VOX Cultural Digest, Issue N.17!
All languages of the world are fascinating. When you manage to get an idea across in a new language, you’ll get goosebumps running down your spine.
Yet, learning to speak German, English, French or any other language is a challenging task and it can be difficult to stay motivated. Where does one draw inspiration for learning languages? Finding the right inner motivation is the key. If you don’t understand in detail why you need it all, it will be very difficult to discipline yourself. So we recommend you to think of the reasons you want to learn a language. Write them down and get back to them every time you feel like giving up. We have compiled some of our favourite motivational speeches on learning languages below. I hope they inspire you to learn a new one too!
4 reasons to learn a new language
English is fast becoming the world’s universal language, and instant translation technology is improving every year. So why bother learning a foreign language? Linguist and Columbia professor John McWhorter shares four alluring benefits of learning an unfamiliar tongue.
How do our brains process speech?
The average 20-year-old knows between 27,000 and 52,000 different words. Spoken out loud, most of these words last less than a second. With every word, the brain has a quick decision to make: which of those thousands of options matches the signal? And about 98% of the time, the brain chooses the correct word. How is this possible? Gareth Gaskell digs into the complexities of speech comprehension.
The language of being human
You speak far more languages than you realize, says Poet Ali. In a profound talk, he reveals how the idea of “language” goes far beyond a lexicon of words, communicating universal experiences like love, laughter and loneliness — and serving as a portal to cultures, feelings and thoughts that unite us all.
Thank you for taking the time to read this issue of the VOX Cultural Digest.
Have fun exploring and learning new languages!
