As a , being bilingual or even multilingual is a major advantage. Interacting with business people across the globe and navigating the streets of a new city can be challenging without some basic words to whip out of your back pocket, but learning a new language can be expensive! Never fear, ladies, your computer is home to one of the biggest wonders of the web: YouTube is ready to help you on your next linguistic expedition – for free! Check out these channels to get started:
Innovative Language Learning: Lessons in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, Bulgarian, Dutch, and Arabic.
Babbel: Lessons in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Indonesian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Danish, and German.
Easy Languages: Lessons in English, French, German, Spanish, Greek, Japanese, Russian, Filipino, Croatian, Arabic, Dutch, Italian, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Norwegian, Polish, Malay, Swahili, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Ukrainian.
Professor Jason: Lessons in Spanish and Portuguese.
The Travel Linguist: Lessons in Thai, Turkish, Tagalog, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Czech, Greek, and French.
Nathaniel Dick: Lessons in Khmer and Chinese.
Expert Village: Lessons in American Sign Language (ASL).
Benny Lewis: Lessons in English, French, Spanish, American Sign Language, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, German, and Dutch.
Get Germanized:Lessons in German.
Dolce Vita: Lessons in Italian.
These channels are just the beginning. You can learn from polyglots like Benny Lewis, who speak a handful of languages at a high level, or you can learn from specialists like Professor Jason, who will give you the ins and outs of a particular culture.
Whether you are in an internship, a new job placement, or just looking to travel, learning another language should be on your to-do list. Being able to understand even the basics of what’s going on around you will improve your experience ten-fold. There is so much more to absorb in an unfamiliar culture when you learn to read the street signs and the menus, order properly at a café, and listen in on local conversations.
It may be a daunting task, but adding a language to your CV is beneficial in so many ways. You will come across as a determined, cultured, ambitious, and intelligent woman with potential. Doesn’t that sound amazing? That could be you. Pick a language, any language. I dare you! You’ll never know how great you are until you give it a shot.
What language do you want to learn?
Written by Britany Powell
Photos: Pinterest
