There are endless quotes about any aspect of life, and languages and language learning is no different. I have put some popular quotes below that will hopefully help motivate you to continue your learning of languages and to get a little bit of perspective about what language learning can offer.

The first quote that we will look at is the one that is on the front screen of this website: “A different language is a different vision of life.”

It is a quote that struck me the first time I saw it and it continues to inspire my own joy in language learning despite the difficulties that can be faced in this journey. I most enjoy the different perspectives that learning other languages can offer because it really does open up a whole new world that might otherwise go by you unnoticed.

One amazing thing about quotes and proverbs of languages and language learning is that there are just so many of them. Even more striking, you can find quotes in all different languages that are influenced by different cultures, giving you different perspectives.

It’s clear that learning a language doesn’t just benefit specific groups of people, but that learning a language is for everyone, everywhere. I hope the below quotes help give you some motivation wherever you are in your language-learning journey.

A Different Language Is A Different Vision Of Life

This quote really points to the fact that learning a language is not done without also learning about the culture of the speakers of that language.

There is a similar quote that fits well here: “The limits of my language are the limits of my world”. This quote is originally in German and is Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt. It helps to explain why learning another language expands the world that you live in, even if that was not your intention for learning a language at the start.

A commonly misunderstood or unappreciated aspect of language learning is that alongside learning a language, you are also learning the culture of the people who speak that language. This is a natural byproduct of learning and is also one of the great benefits of language learning. The reason for this is that by learning about another culture you are literally learning how other people think and live their life.

When learning a new language, you’ll notice particular aspects of language that may be more featured or emphasised than in your own mother language. This isn’t to say that there is necessarily a better way of thinking, rather to emphasise that in order to effectively speak in a different language you need to be flexible in the way that you think. If you hold too tightly to your own way of thinking, it will be much more difficult definitely converse in your target language.

An example of some different ways of thinking is the Spanish word order, which places the objective of the amount after the noun, while English places this before the noun. In English, the sentence the red car would in Spanish become the car red. This is a subtle switch, but one that can easily confuse you especially when you are beginning to learn Spanish and trying to translate the sentence you wish to say from English to Spanish in your head.

Another amusing quirk of Spanish that I discovered in class, is that to say that you have lost something sounds more natural in Spanish by saying that the thing has lost itself. For example, in English, you would say that you have lost your keys, whereas in Spanish literal translation would be “The keys have lost themselves”.

You can see this played out in real life as you listen to a non-native English speaker, particularly if they are not fluent in English. They may say things in a different way than how you might expect, or mix things around. This is the influence of their own language coming into play and is a small window into showing how they think. You can also have the opportunity to experience this, as the more competent you get in another language, the more the cultural influence of that language can impact you. It truly is another way of seeing life.

This is not to say that one particular perspective is incorrect, rather, to highlight that there is more than one way of living. You can live your entire life using any one language, so it is clear that a different perspective from another language and culture should be used to enhance your life, rather than to replace your own language and culture.

The More Languages You Know The More You Are Human

This is an interesting quote that also digs deeper into what language learning can mean. On face value learning another language will allow you to speak to people who do not speak your mother tongue. But there is so much more to language learning, which this quote hints at.

As mentioned above one aspect of language learning is learning to think differently and being flexible in this. Another aspect alongside this is an increased openness to other people, cultures, and ways of life. Languages can help bridge the unspoken divide that can appear when people of different cultures and languages meet. Instead of necessarily seeing somebody who does not speak your language as different, other, and possibly bad, the openness to other people that language learning can bring can simply help human connection.

This is not to say that language learning is only done by ‘nice’ people, or that it can make you a nicer person. Of course, it can, but you would also need to be willing and open to changing your way of thinking.

Another aspect of this quote could simply be that they learning more languages you could potentially become a better communicator and more elegant in your speech. This in turn could make it easier for you to interact with people, particularly in a professional scenario, and help you make agreements.

One Language Sets You In A Corridor For Life. Two Languages Open Every Door Along The Way

This is a great analogy of the kind of opportunities that knowing multiple languages can bring. You’ll be sure to have plenty of opportunities in your life, but without a doubt, the number of opportunities open to you increases by knowing another language, for example, German, to potentially increase your career options abroad. Beyond this, you may simply be more highly looked at in job opportunities simply because you know another language.

The ability to speak in multiple languages is certainly something that you should put on your resume, even if the job you are applying for is not likely to need intercultural communications. Having skills in multiple languages should indicate that there is higher attention to detail, improved memory as well as higher levels of creativity. These are all highly sought-after in the professional world. Even more so, the ability to speak multiple languages indicates that you have enhanced communication skills, and this will benefit you no matter which job you take.

Don’t let knowing multiple languages go to your head though. Just because you know multiple languages does not necessarily make you the smartest person in the room. There is the kind of intelligence that comes from knowing lots of information, but this is largely useless if you are not able to effectively communicate this knowledge.

If nothing else, by learning another language, you will also have naturally improved your English skills, as you’ll become more aware of the grammatical rules of your own mother tongue.