Is cúis bhróid anois é an t-ilteangachas i measc mac léinn agus gairmithe. Sa phíosa seo, roinnfidh mé na buntáistí a bhaineann leis de réir mo thaithí féin. Cheal spáis, áfach, ní bheidh mé in ann a bheith cuimsitheach. Déanfaidh mé iarracht achoimre bheacht a thabhairt. Ar dtús, cuidíonn an t-ilteangachas liom agus mé ag foghlaim. Agus mé sa mheánscoil, bhí mé in ann teacht ar ábhar ó ar a laghad trí theanga éagsúla. Chabhraigh sé liom toisc go raibh réimse leathan eolais ar fáil dom nach raibh sna leabhair scoile nó ar fáil sa seomra ranga. Is buntáiste eile í an ilchultúrthacht. Deimhníonn taighde gur meán don chultúr í an teanga. Dá bhrí sin, agus mé ag labhairt, glacaim páirt sa chultúr a bhaineann leis an teanga sin. Tugann sé seo chuig buntáiste eile mé: an tsaoraigeantacht. Mar dhuine ilteangach, mothaím compórdach ag labhairt le daoine ó chultúir éagsúla, bíodh sin go fisiciúil nó ar líne. Léiríonn cainteoirí na féiniúlachtaí éagsúla a théann lena dteangacha, agus cuirim le mo phacáiste pearsanta féiniúlachta iad. Tugann sé seo teacht isteach dom in aon phobal ina labhraítear teanga de mo chuid. Sábhálann an t-ilteangachas am agus fuinneamh chomh maith. Sa domhan seo lán le teicneolaíocht chumarsáide, is féidir teangacha a nascadh le chéile i ríomhphost, téacs nó pé saghas cumarsáide eile. Dár ndóigh, braitheann sé seo ar an lucht léitheoireachta. Mar shampla, cuirim Kirundi, Fraincis, Béarla agus Ciosvahailís le chéile go rialta chun am agus spás a shábháil agus mé i mbun cumarsáide. Maraon leis na buntáistí sóisialta seo, tá buntáistí proifisiúnta agus eacnamaíocha ag baint leis an ilteangachas. Ar an taobh proifisiúnta, is fearr le roinnt fostaitheoirí daoine ilteangacha. Luaitear gur gá a bheith ar a laghad dátheangach go rialta i bhfógraí poist. Go heacnamaíoch, is féidir le duine ilteangach post a fháil mar aistritheoir agus/nó léirmhínitheoir. I ré seo an domhandaithe, ball luachmhar den fhoireann an té a labhraíonn níos mó ná teanga amháin. Mar achoimre, tá buntáistí sóisialta agus eacnamaíocha ag baint leis an ilteangachas. San áiste ghearr seo, rinne mé iarracht saibhreas mo thaithí féin a roinnt libh. Dá bhrí sin, ó bhuntáistí fóntaíocha go cinn eacnamaíocha, tá réimse mór buntáistí leis an ilteangachas. Speaking more than one language has become a reason for pride among students and professionals. In this piece of writing, I will share its benefits based on my own experience. However, for the sake of space, I will not be exhaustive. I will try to make a more focussed summary. To start with, speaking more than one language has helped me in my learning. When I was in my high school, I could easily access material from at least three languages. This was beneficial in the sense that I would have a wider range of knowledge than what was available in classrooms and course books. Another benefit is multiculturalism. In fact, research confirms that language is a vehicle of culture. Thus, by speaking many languages, I am simultaneously adopting the cultures they embody. This leads to another benefit: being open-minded. As a multilingual, I feel comfortable engaging in conversation with speakers of different languages, in physical or virtual settings. I discover different identities associated with the speakers of these languages and I add them to my personal identity package. It gives me a feeling that I belong, or at least am connected to any community where at least one of my languages is spoken. Speaking more than one language can also save time and energy. In the modern world of widespread uses of information communication technology, those who speak more than one language can combine them in an e-mail, an SMS or any other type of communication. Of course, this depends upon the intended audience. For example, I commonly combine Kirundi, French, English and Kiswahili to save time and space when I communicate. In addition to these social and interpersonal benefits, speaking more than one language can be both professionally and economically beneficial. On the professional side, certain employers prefer speakers of more than one language. The condition of being at least bilingual is recurrent in job advertisements. Economically, perfect multilinguals usually make a living as translators and/or interpreters. In today’s trend to globalisation, speaking more than one language can make you a valuable human resource. In a nutshell, speaking more than one language has many benefits both at social and economic levels. In this short essay, I have attempted to share the benefits based on my own experience. Thus, from the utilitarian benefits such as earning to economic advantages, speaking more than one language has big potential benefits. 13
TCD Multilingual 2015
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