Author: Vanessa Levana Cheryle

English is important for our everyday life and our future. For instance, English is important for the world of work, especially when we have graduated and want to find the spearhead for us to win from our competitors who are looking for work. English mastery will help us to improve our connections, expand our network, and get a better career more easily than those who do not have sufficient English skills. English also can help us to communicate when we travel abroad. It is also one of the keys to broadening our knowledge, which would increase and even bring our thoughts to a new level of understanding. Being able to speak English can also increase our confidence in front of our peers and friends.

As previously mentioned, one of the advantages of learning English is that it improves our relationships with other people around us. For example, if we have a foreign guest we have to be able to understand the foreigner’s language. If we don’t understand each other, there will be a great chance that some misunderstandings and mishaps might occur. Thus the research states that English is very important to expand our community circle.

Moreover, learning and being fluent in English is also very useful when we go abroad. When we travel abroad we must use English to facilitate communication. There are sixty-seven different countries that recognize English as their official language, as well as 27 non-sovereign entities. Five of the largest of these countries are the United States of America, The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Aside from that, English is also spoken as a second language by the majority of people in some countries, such as Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. It means, by understanding and speaking English, we will be able to make ourselves understood by foreigners from so many different countries. We know that when we arrive at a place, it would be better if we can be accepted by the locals. By being able to speak and be appreciated by the locals, there are many unnecessary shameful events that can be avoided. And, it could even bring good tidings for us just by practicing English skills with foreigners. We might never know what might come up. The more we are prepared, the better it would be. And, what would be more prepared than knowing the language that is spoken by most people in the world?

Furthermore, another advantage of mastering English is to expand the network. By expanding the network it will benefit us. Networks are useful to make it easier for us to find better jobs in the future. Since so many job vacancies require adequate English competence, we must prioritize English mastery to be able to keep up with globalization. It also means that by speaking better English, we can get a better job to guarantee our lives in the future. There are at least fourteen multinational companies in Indonesia in 2020, for instance, Semen Indonesia, Garuda Food, Gojek, Indofood, Adidas, Asus, Google, Honda, KFC, etc. Since multinational companies are institutions that have facilities outside their home country, have offices and factories in many countries, and usually have a main branch to coordinate its management globally, the company employees who have crucial positions require qualified English competence. It means that by having good communication skills in English, we can also secure the opportunity of having a promising career especially when we compete with other employees within the company. We can get a good career to guarantee our life in the future. No matter what other surprises it might hold for us, we already have something ready to face the roads ahead of us.

Meanwhile, English can also increase our knowledge since the vast majority of scientific journals are published in English. It is because English has become a lingua franca of the modern era and global scientific community. There are around 27.000 journals written in English. Therefore, when we fall short in understanding the language, we will not be able to gain information from them. In addition, some studies state that people that know more than just one language have a higher intelligence rate compared to those who only know one language. The more we learn, the smarter we get. This proverb is proven to be true, especially since it keeps our brains better and sharper at the same time.

The last benefit of mastering English is it can boost our confidence. It is because basically, humans have an inferior and confident side, but mostly, some humans actually have an excessive inferiority side rather than the self-confidence side. To overcome this inferiority problem, mastering English can be one of the elements to increase self-confidence and get rid of the invading insecurity. English can also make us “look cool” in front of our friends. Phrases like ‘What’s up, man’, ‘Anyway’, ‘By the way, ‘On the way’ are being more and more commonly used by Indonesian youngsters to express themselves. And sometimes they are quite proud of themselves to be able to sound those few phrases. Even sometimes the pronunciation is not as exact as the real thing, it doesn’t matter to them. What matters most is they can speak English, and this gives them high self-esteem, something to be proud of. This is a good thing and a positive way of learning. While we are getting more and more familiar with some English words, we can uplift our confidence in the public speaking aspect.

In conclusion, English is one of the most important aspects of our life in order to get a better future. Besides that, by learning English we will get many benefits such as, gaining our confidence, making it easier for us to communicate, and finally, by learning English we will get a lot of knowledge that we have never comprehended before. So what are we waiting for? Let’s start to learn English!

I am a young generation who cares about literacy! This article was written as part of the 2021 EF Literacy Day Competition: https://www.ef.co.id/writing-competition

Article Source: http://smasantamaria1crb.sch.id/informasi/berita5