Deciding to enhance your skill set is always a great idea! One area that has become more popular to focus in on is to learn a new language. Learn to speak the language of your favorite places!
There are many reasons to add learning a new language to your list of life goals. Here are just a few reasons you should work to learn to speak a new language:
• Becoming bilingual can enhance your career prospects. As the United States economy grows, many businesses are connecting and building relationships on the global level.
• You are expanding your networking capabilities by speaking another language. Communicating with someone from another region expands helps you build beneficial relationships and broadens your perspective.
• Get more eyes on your resume. Listing bilingual as an added skill on your resume, will likely get bumped up on the list of top-resume choices, and boost your chances at landing an interview. Adding a certification to your resume showcasing your willingness to learn a new dialect speaks mounds to potential employers.
• It’s a form of self-care. Use your extra time to do something you’ve always wanted to. According to a MIT Press article, people that speak more than one language are better at multitasking, and while not definitive – yet – you may decrease your chance at getting Alzheimer’s disease (also known as chronic memory loss) as you get older.
You may also be a high school student wanting to test out the difference lingos from around the world to see what’s easier for you to learn. Maybe, you’re a college student that wants to stand out among the internship competition on your application. Or, you’d like to be promoted to a global office within your current company. Whatever your reason for wanting to learn a new vernacular there are several ways to get started learning a new language online for free.
But what is the best site to learn a new language for free? Here are the five best sites and courses to learn a new language from home with zero cost to you:
Chinese for Beginners — Coursera
This free course offered by Peking University has more than 11,000 ratings and can be completed 100 percent online. You’ll learning the basics of Chinese Mandarin to have conversations around daily living, personal info and food discussion. With completion of this course you’ll also get a shareable certificate. This is rare as many sites will ask for a small fee in order to get this. Approximately 29 percent of the language learners that completed this course said their careers benefited from the course.
Basic Spanish 1: Getting Started — edX
Designed specifically for native English speakers, this introductory-level course in the Spanish language will take you less than two months to complete. By investing four to five hours per week in this course, you’ll learn the alphabet, numbers and other basic conversational skills. At the end of the course you have the option to purchase a certificate of verification. All courses are taught by Universitat Politècnica de Valencia faculty. This is a real technical university located in Spain.
Learn Arabic — Duolingo
Duolingo is a free online learning tool to help you learn a new language. With the option to use on your desktop or on your mobile device, the site and/or app design is user friendly and extremely interactive. It almost feels like you’re playing a game! You choose how much time you’d like to commit to learning Arabic each day and the platform takes if from there. This digital classroom teaches you Arabic as it applies to school, travel, family, food, and more. Begin to start speaking the native language the day you begin the training program.
Learn Russian from English — Duolingo
Another fun course from the language learning Website, Duolingo you’ll learn a new alphabet right alongside the more than three million current Russian learners. Courses are developed by nine contributors offering a variety of Russian experiences and expertise. Another course highlight, you’ll gain a new appreciation for Russian literature from native speakers that also serve as course contributors. The course description claims you can use your new skills for business, travel or just for fun.
Learn Basic French Grammar, Vocabulary — Alison
Interesting Language Facts
As you’re trying to make the best decision on which dialect you should learn online, consider these interesting facts about the five languages and the associated free courses listed above. Chinese : According to Rosetta Stone, Chinese is the most spoken language in the world. It’s also important to consider that China continues to grow as a global economic influence. If your career is going in a technology focused or big business direction you may consider learning this language. Spanish : Second to Chinese, Spanish is spoken by more people in the world than any other language. FluentU claims Spanish a global language, as the official language of more than 21 countries. Choosing to learn Spanish as a second language is a safe choice and odds are you’ll have the chance to show off your Spanish skills. Arabic : A Cudoo blog post reveals Arabic numbers are written left to right and words are written from right to left. It’s also the official language of 26 countries. Middle Eastern countries are known for their economic influence on resources such as oil, gas and manufacturing industries and goods. If you’re dreaming of traveling to Morocco, Egypt or Lebanon someday, you’ll want to learn about this ancient language. Russian :Russian is the fifth most spoken language in the World. According to Space.com, “...all astronauts going to the ISS, no matter how many languages they speak, also need to learn Russian.” Russia is known for its presence in the space and technology sectors. If you’re considering any of these STEM fields, you may want to learn Russian. Lifehack.com claims Russia is the world leader in oil, timber, diamonds, gold and natural gas production. French : French is considered the language of romance. Love aside, if you’re considering a United Nations, International Olympic Committee or Red Cross career you may want to learn some French. These international institutions claim French an official language, according to Cactus.Online Learning
As more and more U.S. students are learning remotely, some are feeling stuck at home outside of the traditional classroom experiences. It makes sense to take advantage of this extra time to enhance your skill set—especially with the numerous free, online learning courses available. Be sure to check out the Top 10 Online Learning Courses for Computer and Data Science too! Avoid feeling overwhelmed or lost when deciding where to look or what courses to take. To help you make the most of your time we’ve created an Cactus online learning center to help you easily compare e-learning platforms and digital courses.You Might Also Like
Shawna Newman
Managing Editor, Contributing Writer
Shawna Newman is the Managing Editor and a writer at Fastweb. She has over 10 years of experience in higher education. Her direct work with college admissions teams, financial aid officers, college deans, ...
