A few weeks ago, I started thinking about a new language to learn. At Barbier, where we work with a diverse range of languages, and the daily exposure to linguistic diversity serves as a constant inspiration for learning more. And I realized that, as a professional translator, the decision to learn a new language sometimes involves more insight than usual. Many existential questions arose: Should I learn a language just because I like it? What are the most profitable languages in the Language Services Industry (LSI)? How many languages should a translator learn? Do we ever stop learning a language? To answer some of these questions, I started to research online. Based on what I found and what I’ve experienced while learning a new language or skill, I came to the following three conclusions.
First, being active and getting in touch with the language we want to learn through apps, social media, and multimedia content is a great way to experience the linguistic and cultural background of the languages.
Second, we must have a motive to start a new language, something inspiring that keeps us going every day is a must. So if this motive is related to the LSI, then it is appropriate to consider the main languages seen as profitable or usually requested in the industry. But always remember that languages are constantly evolving, as well as the LSI.
Finally, and most importantly, learning a language should be something we enjoy. It might seem obvious, but sometimes we need to remember these things when we get lost in practicality. So yes, the language we choose has to be one we like. Based on that preference, we can go deep and make a valuable choice after having experienced a bit of the language via the Internet’s endless possibilities and considering the LSI’s point of view if needed.
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