Have a Foreign Language Love Affair This Summer

One morning late last autumn, I took off from London’s Heathrow Airport, my base as a Boeing 787 pilot, and landed the next morning at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. By early afternoon I was walking under the turning foliage of Rikugien, one of my favorite gardens, where I paused by a wooden sign at the edge of a stream. Despite having studied Japanese for years, the text on the sign — something about slippery stones ahead — included several characters I didn’t recognize, so I fired up an app I’d recently discovered. It scanned and translated all of them instantly.

Such tools — and others that can translate speech — are astonishing. But with this magic at our fingertips, is the study of foreign languages now pointless?

Not at all. In fact, foreign languages are more rewarding than ever, in part because technology has made them easier than ever to learn.

My love of languages began in childhood. Growing up in rural Western Massachusetts, foreign languages were inseparable from the wonder I associated with globes and maps, and with the graceful airliners I dreamed of someday flying to distant places. I learned some French and Dutch from my Belgian father and studied Spanish in high school. The language I really fell for, though, is Japanese, which I first studied during a summer homestay in Kanazawa.

The world has changed a lot since the summer of 1991. But there are still reasons for us to invest in foreign language studies. Despite the global pre-eminence of English and the growing sophistication of translation tools, U.S. businesses and government agencies have an unmet need for language skills. Yet as of 2017, only about one in five K-12 students study a foreign language, and enrollment in U.S. college foreign language classes dropped by almost one-third between 2009 and 2021. These gaps mean that career opportunities are plentiful for language learners, both at home and abroad.

It’s true that many English speakers don’t need language skills to travel these days, especially with smartphones that can translate a menu (or even what a waiter is saying) in real time. But few people would argue that the existence of calculators means we needn’t study math. Language learning is associated with enhanced memory, creativity and concentration. It boosts overall academic performance and may also delay neurological decline as you age. For all of us, language learning is a gym for the brain.