Fathia Balgahoom is an experienced educator based in New Jersey. In addition to her previous roles at Apple Tree Preschool and the Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Performing and Fine Arts, Fathia Balgahoom taught social studies and special education at the secondary school level.
As both an educator and enthusiast of history and culture, Fathia Balgahoom has recently started taking Indonesian classes through the Republic of Indonesia Embassy in the United States in order to learn the Indonesian language. She is particularly interested in refining her knowledge of the Indonesian language as a woman of Indonesian descent.
Learning a second language provides a person with a wide range of benefits, including brain stimulation. Studies have revealed that the process of learning a new language contributes to the growth of gray matter; the more gray matter a brain has, the healthier the brain. Acquiring a new language has also been associated with the growth of white matter, which improves neuron efficiency. Growing and maintaining white matter becomes increasingly important as your brain ages.
By learning a new language, people can also increased their attention span. Researchers believe that the human attention span is decreasing, with some studies suggesting that the average attention span has declined from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. By focusing on a cognitive task such as learning a new language, individuals can free their minds of distractions and improve their attention and focus.
While various activities can help people improve their focus, researchers have found unique benefits when bilingual and multilingual speakers switch from one language to another. Alternating between two or more languages greatly improves concentration, according to a study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
People can enjoy many benefits from learning a new language, which could range from improved multitasking skills to decreased cognitive decline.
The Indonesian language, referred to as Bahasa Indonesia, is spoken by 94 percent of the country, though more than 30 percent of the population speaks Javanese, or Jawa, as their primary language. Fathia Balgahoom has particularly benefitted from learning the language through courses at the Republic of Indonesia Embassy, as she has learned to speak the language more formally.
The process of learning the Indonesian language has helped Fathia Balgahoom to reconnect with her culture. Both the ideological concept and active process of reconnecting with one’s cultural roots can be difficult to assess; there is rarely a clear-cut path, nor an obvious start or end point. That said, there are many important reasons for reconnecting with one’s cultural roots, including the development of a strong self-identity.
Understanding and appreciating other cultures is an important aspect of acquiring a new language. As an example, languages often make a distinction between formal and informal address. A person who lacks this knowledge may unintentionally keep their peers at arm’s length while speaking to their elders or superiors in a somewhat disrespectful tone.
Learning a new language is an effective means of absorbing new cultures, which is an area of weakness for many students in the United States. Nine out of 10 students in Europe learn a second language in school, while close to 25 percent of Canadians speak fluently in both English and French. Throughout Africa, many schools provide lessons in English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese. Yet just one in five K-12 students and one in 12 university students in America are enrolled in a world language class.