Unleash your pandemic potential by learning a language

When COVID-19 first came to the world’s attention in January 2020 little did we know that within two months it would lead to a global pandemic. This started a rollercoaster journey of lockdowns, phased re-openings, travel restrictions and of course vaccinations. Effectively the world was brought to a standstill and in a time of crisis the world has had to adapt. With such a sudden change of pace, people found new ways to fill their time, some made the most of the opportunity by taking up new hobbies such as learning a language

Effect of the pandemic

Every country in the world enforced measures to control the spread of the virus. The impacts have been felt far and wide not only by employees, businesses and the economy but also the way we as individuals and families conduct our personal lives. Recurrent outbreaks and rising cases have resulted in extended lockdowns. What was initially due to be a two week lockdown has turned into over 15 months of working from home, closure of leisure facilities and social distancing.

Although people’s access to physical institutions has been limited, the online world has seen a huge increase in activity. Gym classes, quiz nights, even weddings have moved online and some people have also taken advantage of the time saved not commuting or travelling to discover a new hobby such as learning a language.


Woman with mask looking through the window

“In solitude we are in fact together,

so keep hope alive and don’t allow

despair to destroy a difficult

but potentially creative period of your

life.”

Terry Waite

With these restrictions in place, our

time at home has increased

dramatically because we are not

commuting to and from work, attending

activities or travelling at weekends.

Having more time available means that

people are looking for other ways to fill

the void. Most noticeably, subscriptions

to streaming services reached peak

levels, and while some countries have

since started to ease restrictions on

lockdown, screen time, in general is

still up.

iMac

“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.”

Theophrastus

It is easy to spend minutes or hours surfing social media or watching television. Our growing

dependence on technology can however be used to our advantage by giving our professional

and personal lives a boost. Making the most of our time has never been so important as

according to the third edition of the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report half of all

employees will require some form of reskilling as soon as 2025.

Learning a language – benefits

One skill that has wide-reaching benefits is learning a language. Broadly you will keep your mind active, improve your memory, ability to concentrate, and deepen your communication skills (especially listening). In the workplace being able to speak another language opens up more job opportunities in a variety of locations and can also benefit businesses by having staff who can converse and translate with a wider potential customer pool. Also, with “work from home” becoming more widely accepted, you can change your home either temporarily or permanently to Paris with French lessons, Mexico City with Spanish lessons or Tokyo with Japanese lessons.

Man using laptop

BiCortex Languages understands

the true underlying value of

effective communication and

bringing people together through

offering a variety of language

services.

In order to keep up these necessary

social connections and enrich the

learning experience in a group

environment there are online group

language classes. Alternatively for a

more flexible, personalized learning

Don’t get left behind, make the most of your time to continue growing, in the face of a pandemic and an unknown world, and you may just journey to places you never expected by learning a language.