Opportunities and Benefits of Learning Rare and Understudied Languages

Yuriy Ivantsiv
3 min readMar 6, 2024

--

Learning languages is an ongoing process of self-development, broadening your horizons and immersing yourself in a new cultural space. While many choose popular languages such as English, Spanish or French, learning rare and understudied languages offers unique opportunities and benefits for language students. In this article, we will explore some of them.

1. Expand cultural understanding: Learning rare and understudied languages allows you to immerse yourself in unique cultures that are different from those traditionally known. Each language carries a unique history and cultural characteristics that are revealed through its grammar, vocabulary, and expressions. Learning rare languages allows direct access to the values, customs, traditions, and worldviews of different peoples.

2. Development of cognitive skills: Learning rare languages is a complex task that requires making new connections and forming associations. Through this process, the brain develops general cognitive skills such as analytical thinking, creativity and the ability to think abstractly. These skills can have applications in different areas of life and work, helping you to become more flexible and adaptable in a rapidly changing world.

3. Broad career opportunities: Knowledge of rare languages can bring you unusual and promising career opportunities. In a world of globalisation and cross-cultural interactions, this is a valuable advantage. Companies involved in international business or related to tourism and cultural exchange need professionals who are proficient in rare languages. Studying little-known languages puts you in a unique position in the labour market and can open doors to new opportunities.

4. Strengthening cultural heritage: Some rare languages are on the verge of extinction. Learning and preserving such languages is important for preserving the cultural heritage of different communities and peoples. By acting as an advocate for cultural diversity and linguistic heritage, you contribute to the preservation and continuation of peoples’ unique traditions and history.

5. Increased communication and personal growth: Rare languages can open up new opportunities to communicate with people from different cultures and social groups. Mastery of them allows one to understand unique nuances in communication that cannot be translated into more widely spoken languages. In addition, developing your communication skills in rare languages helps develop your empathy, tolerance and respect for other cultures.

Learning rare and understudied languages is a unique path of self-development, discovery and cultural enrichment. It gives you the opportunity to immerse yourself in new worlds and experience a whole range of unique experiences. Despite the challenges, learning rare languages offers you unlimited opportunities to grow and develop as a person and a professional. The practical manual “Polyglot Notes. Practical Tips for Learning Foreign Language” (ebook and paperback) provides guidance on language learning. In the book you will find different pedagogical approaches in the educational process, the basics of educational psychology, methods for developing language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing, techniques for memorising new words, learning grammar and setting the correct pronunciation.

--

--

Yuriy Ivantsiv

Master of History, specialist in culture and museum pedagogy.