Language is the communication tool of human beings. It is achieved in human beings' intelligence only. Words utter ideas, emotions, suggestions on our mind through the bridge of language. It depicts who we are among other species on planet earth. We are much more familiar with our mother tongue because of the usage at home and the surroundings where we spend time in. Apart from the mother tongue, there are many languages which are widely spoken all around the globe. As undergraduates, how does language knowledge affect us? That is a critical juncture to discuss these days as we are under the power of a global village.

We undergraduates are too studious near a semester examination. It is evidently natural. We participate in extracurricular activities and sports etc. at university to gain novel and energetic experiences to add colours of authenticity to our university career in a remarkable manner. But, we have to ask ourselves a question. Is it just enough to follow these things rather than the university education? How do I achieve my dreamy career path among my peers? There may be several answers. As for the swiftness of the career world, we should be attentive on that matter. In here, the languages would be able to brighten your azures than you ever thought of.

Language learning has become a global trend in this era. Of course, it was not a novel education as it has a long history. In Sri Lanka, we have all learnt the English language at school and at university level too. English is essential to know because of its vast popularity not only on the island but also all around the world. English is easier to learn when it comes to Sinhalese and Tamil. It has only 26 letters. The  two ways of spoken and written English are absolutely similar rather than Sinhalese and Tamil languages. Therefore, it is widely educated. The question in my mind is that is it enough to learn English only  as a foreign language as an undergraduate. It does not matter what your learning stream is. If you are capable of more than 3 languages, you would become the winner in the career fair queue.

Foreign languages influence many facets. Learning them makes us healthier as we switch among them. They build strong neuron bonds in our brain. They keep our rationale higher and higher. As undergraduates, memory is the most needed tool when we face the examination. Learning languages proves to us that they have the prowess to keep our memory sane. As these facts, learning languages are exactly given stunning outputs. They distinguish ourselves as determined ones because we should definitely pay much more attention to learn exactly something new to us.

After graduation ,we have the great intention to achieve our dream job. If you have learnt languages while following the academic education, you grab a lot of advantages among your peers . Nowadays, most of the companies and conglomerates etc. in Sri Lanka love to hire the undergraduates who know Sinhalese, Tamil and English. The spoken knowledge has been essential to them. The world is also looking for the undergraduates who know the languages rather than his/her mother tongue. It is a mesmerising revolution to see. In the United States, Spanish spoken graduates are more welcome than mother tongue speakers. In the United Kingdom, French ,German are the languages mostly sought for.

Languages could impact our whole lifetime. They have the magic to change our life to catch our dream job. Aren't they?

Sachini Somarathna

Special 2nd year

Department of Linguistics

Faculty of humanities