Some people say that the only reason for learning a foreign language is in order to travel to or work in a foreign country. Others say that these are not the only reasons why someone should learn a foreign language.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Globalisation has transformed our economy by creating more businesses and jobs, and further improved living standards of thousands of people, allowing them to travel overseas. While these phenomena encourage more people to learn a new language, there are also people master a foreign language for other purposes. In my opinion, I believe that we should learn a foreign language for practical reasons.
Learning a foreign language benefits both visitors and workers abroad. Travellers who are able to converse, at least, basic phrases may help them to get around in a foreign country or starts a new friendship with the local people. Those who seek for a working opportunity abroad by and large are required to master the official language of that country so that they can assimilate well into the workplace and the society easily. In Japan, for instance, a country where English usage is limited and street signs are mostly available only in Japanese, visitors should learn a few phrases that allow them to ask for a direction when they are lost, make a payment at a shop, or simply greet or apologise to the locals when necessary. As for workers, it is inevitable that they will handle a number of documents in Japanese, and it is their responsibility to master the language so that they can communicate with their colleagues or managers. As such, having the capability to communicate in a foreign language offers a great advantage.
Apparently, the purpose of learning a language is not limited to travelling or migrating to a foreign nation for work. Moreover, English is used widely or even considered as second or third official language in many countries. Hence, most people still can learn a foreign language purely for their own interests. Numerous studies have shown that learning a foreign language can improve cognitive abilities. This is because of the diversity of language structures and logic that vary with languages. Therefore, understanding a foreign language can improve a person’s cognitive plasticity. Understandably, language can also bring benefits other than for work or travel.
In sum, with the points discussed above, I believe that we should devote our time to learn a foreign language for mainly for practical purposes, such as work and travelling. During our spare time, we may learn a new language for own interest.
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, apparently, hence, may, moreover, second, so, still, therefore, third, well, while, as for, at least, for instance, such as, by and large, in my opinion
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 11.0 13.1623246493 84% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 12.0 7.85571142285 153% => OK
Conjunction : 17.0 10.4138276553 163% => OK
Relative clauses : 14.0 7.30460921844 192% => OK
Pronoun: 33.0 24.0651302605 137% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 39.0 41.998997996 93% => OK
Nominalization: 4.0 8.3376753507 48% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1979.0 1615.20841683 123% => OK
No of words: 384.0 315.596192385 122% => OK
Chars per words: 5.15364583333 5.12529762239 101% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.4267276788 4.20363070211 105% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.86125635398 2.80592935109 102% => OK
Unique words: 199.0 176.041082164 113% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.518229166667 0.561755894193 92% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 633.6 506.74238477 125% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.7 1.60771543086 106% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 6.0 5.43587174349 110% => OK
Article: 2.0 2.52805611222 79% => OK
Subordination: 3.0 2.10420841683 143% => OK
Conjunction: 3.0 0.809619238477 371% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 6.0 4.76152304609 126% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 18.0 16.0721442886 112% => OK
Sentence length: 21.0 20.2975951904 103% => OK
Sentence length SD: 59.7608660505 49.4020404114 121% => OK
Chars per sentence: 109.944444444 106.682146367 103% => OK
Words per sentence: 21.3333333333 20.7667163134 103% => OK
Discourse Markers: 8.77777777778 7.06120827912 124% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.38176352705 91% => OK
Language errors: 0.0 5.01903807615 0% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 15.0 8.67935871743 173% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 0.0 3.9879759519 0% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 3.0 3.4128256513 88% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.339369646315 0.244688304435 139% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.128399027633 0.084324248473 152% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0860717584825 0.0667982634062 129% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.226667086793 0.151304729494 150% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0432065369608 0.056905535591 76% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.5 13.0946893788 103% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 41.7 50.2224549098 83% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.44779559118 118% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 12.7 11.3001002004 112% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.59 12.4159519038 101% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.63 8.58950901804 100% => OK
difficult_words: 96.0 78.4519038076 122% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 11.0 9.78957915832 112% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.4 10.1190380762 103% => OK
text_standard: 13.0 10.7795591182 121% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 73.0337078652 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 6.5 Out of 9
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.