Examination Card 14
People in the modern society have to use foreign languages in different spheres of life. Talk about the importance of learning foreign languages. Include the following:

• How does learning a foreign language change you?
• What are the most effective ways of learning foreign languages?

Nowadays more and more people are learning foreign languages. They do it mostly for practical reasons as people in the modern society have to use foreign languages in different spheres of life. If you want to make a good career in journalism, business, education, medicine or any other field of job activity, knowing a foreign language is a must. It is necessary to know a foreign language too if you want to study or work abroad. Besides practical benefits, however, learning a foreign language causes positive changes in your personality. To begin with, it broadens your outlook as it allows you to learn about another culture first hand by communicating with native speakers. It also helps you understand your own culture better because you can compare the ways people in two different cultures think and behave. As a result, you become more understanding and less judgmental about other people.

Finally, research shows that learning a foreign language positively affects your intellectual skills. It improves your attention and memory, as you have to memorize a lot of foreign words. It also develops your creativity as you have to invent the ways to memorize them. 

However, learning a foreign language takes a lot of time and effort. Fortunately, there are some effective ways that can help you master a foreign language. The cheapest way is to take a foreign language class, to read books and magazines and watch movies in a foreign language. The most effective but also the most expensive way is to study a foreign language abroad.

To sum up, I believe that anybody who wants to become a well-educated and successful person should learn at least one foreign language.