Latin. You need to take a relevant foreign language. Latin.

That is what I was told in high school when I signed up for the college prep course of the day.

It was the last thing I was interested in taking but out of necessity I floundered through two years of it.

French, Spanish, German..... I had to take two years of one to satisfy the college curriculum I had elected. I chose French.. the "romantic" language.

It didn't mean much to me then other than another "nuisance" elective necessary for graduation.... but it didn't take long before I began to recognize the value of having had both Latin and French.

My degree was in the medical field so of course Latin was an immediate plus for me with so many medical terms derived directly from the Latin language. I will never speak in Latin. However .. when I come across a Latin phrase or term...it is good to recognize it as such and even understand it.

Most beneficial of all.. of course.. is the fact that more than half of the English language is derived from Latin.

French turned out to be a wonderful addition to my life in many ways. I found it was exciting to be able to pick up a book written in French and read it. Now I look for books in French to keep the language fresh in my mind just for the satisfaction of knowing I can read them.

Passing on my knowledge of French to our children was a natural thing to do.. enriching their lives by opening that door of foreign language to them.

I found out that knowing two languages automatically helps you in understanding other languages as well .... as so many languages are tied together by an underlying thread that translates easily from one to the other. I found this to be true with French, Portuguese, Spanish and German.

Self satisfaction is the greatest benefit I have recieved from being familiar with languages other than English.

Today you can go online and use a translation service to translate anything you wish into any language you wish. That of course can in no way compare to actually knowing a language.

Taking on the challenge of learning a second language for any of many reasons is one that brings a sense of accomplishment that few other experiences do and it is not nearly as difficult as you might imagine.

Challenge yourself. You will be glad you did.

The links below offer great beginning courses in learning foreign languages and they are free.