Article - pls. check my writing

[popsie]

Question
You have seen the following competition in an magazine for young people.

"In your experience what are the benefits and drawbacks of learning another language? Is is something you would recommend to ALL young people?"
If we publish your article you will win a prize of fifty pounds!

Here is my article:

As many languages you know so many times you are a human

What languages do you currently know apart from your native language? E.g. English, Spanish, Chinese or German. If you can speak at least one of these languages, it is almost sure, that you will be able to understand people over all the world. You know some pros and cons about learning a foreign language.

I believe, that one of the main advantages of speaking a foreign language is that you can communicate with other people, e.g. on holiday. It is certainly useful for business communication, as well. Furthermore, you have more respect for another culture.

On the other hand, it takes a long time to became a master in another language. The major drawback would be, that language courses are often expensive. Moreover, sometimes it is really hard for students to stay motivated.

In my opinion, it is really big plus to be competent in another language. It so important for young people do not give up learning a foreign language, to continue, in spite of a long hard way.

[Svaneska]

Hello Popsie

Here are a few ideas and changes . . . though I really don’t know how to render your title sentence. . it does not make sense in English - is it a saying in the Czech Republic?


As many languages you know so many times you are a human
??

What languages do you currently know apart from your native language/tongue: English, Spanish, Chinese or German? If you can speak at least one of these languages, it is certainly sure, that you will be able to understand and communicate with people from other parts of the world. You will have some idea of the difficulties and advantages of learning a foreign language.

I believe that one of the main advantages of speaking a foreign language is that you can communicate with other people, for example when on holiday. It is certainly useful for business communications and furthermore, you gain respect for another’s culture.

On the other hand, it takes a long time to master another language. The major drawback could be that language courses are often expensive and sometimes it is really hard for students to stay motivated.

In my opinion, it is beneficial/useful to be competent in another language. It is important for young people to not give up learning a foreign language, to continue, in spite of it being a challenge.

best wishes
Svaneska

[popsie]

Hi Svaneska,

thanks a lot for your reply.

The title is my attempt to translate a Czech proverb. In other words, I could say:

"You live a new life for every new language you speak.
If you know only one language, you live only once."

[Svaneska]

Originally Posted by popsie

The title is my attempt to translate a Czech proverb. In other words, I could say:

"You live a new life for every new language you speak.
If you know only one language, you live only once."

Hello Popsie

"You live a new life for every new language you speak.

If you know only one language, you live only once." = no, it doesn’t convey what you wish to express


other ways of expressing the proverb could be:

Diversity in languages gives diversity in life.

The knowledge of other languages makes life richer.

[popsie]

Hi Svaneska,

thanks for your feedback. It's really useful for me.