Zenspiration Magazine January Issue | Page 61

Personal Satisfaction It is often quoted, “To have another language is to possess a second soul”. The personal satisfaction of being able to speak another language is most probably your biggest reward. Achieving something for yourself that is both useful and beneficial will not only increase your skills it will also give your confidence a little boost. Learning a language takes time and commitment, and learning something as complex and difficult as another language leaves you with a great sense of personal satisfaction. Out of almost 7 billion people in the world, 375 million speak English as a first language, and then on top of that there is another 1 billion people who speak it as a foreign language. However this still leaves a huge gap of a whopping 5.6 billion people who do not speak any English. Do the calculation and you will quickly discover there is a massive 80% of the world with whom you have no way of communicating with. In an era where technology is used to expand one’s “network or business prospects” (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) it becomes clear how important it is to speak another language. ZENSPIRATION.ORG 61