Blue Monday falls on the third Monday of January every year, meaning in 2022, it falls on January 17 but what exactly makes it “Blue”?
Is it the comedown after the festive season, the particularly dull January weather, the dark nights that take over most of our days? Maybe it’s the prospect of a whole new year ahead – a little daunting perhaps heading into the unknown.
Whatever makes it blue for you, we’re sharing the ways in which learning a new language can boost your morale this January and hey, even if you aren’t so blue why not head into 2022 with a new string to your bow?
So, the question I’m sure you’re all asking –
“How can learning a new language improve my mental wellbeing?”
Improves mental health
Research shows immersing yourself in a new language can positively impact your cognitive behaviour, helping you deal with anxiety and depression, generally benefitting your overall mental health. It’s also a way you can direct some negative energy into something positive that can enhance your self-confidence.
Blogger, Compassionate Language Learner once described how learning a new language helped with their depression, stating: “Depression often makes your world feel small, and your options are few. Languages provide a window on to a wider world.
“Any activity has the potential to break monotony, but languages seem especially useful, at least for me, by allowing me to connect with people and by giving me a route back to the things I feel are important.”
Whether it benefits our mental health or just generally boosts morale, couldn’t we all benefit from a window to a wider world?
Improves creativity
While a new language can play a part in your mental wellbeing it’s also a skill that can improve your creativity. A new language could open a door into a whole new world that could help tick the creativity box you didn’t even know needed ticking.
Improves professional development
If you’re thinking about how it can help you professionally, of course there are the obvious reasons like being able to communicate with international clients or work your way around a city on a work trip easier but mentally, the skill can improve your memory and sharpen your mind. It will enhance your ability to multitask, make decisions quicker while also increasing your performance in other academic areas.
Improves your outlook
And, while the world has stood still for the past 18 months, knowing another language could have been the secret to maintaining a healthy outlook and a sense of purpose while still feeling connected to a global community.
Fancy a challenge? What language are you going to conquer in 2022? You can view LSI’s list of language courses here which also includes the different routes you can take to becoming a master of the new skill. Join us at one of our many global language schools or head online for a range of different courses including German, French and private English lessons.
Set yourself a goal of what language you’d like to take up in 2022 to beat those January blues and enjoy the process while being amongst like-minded people and who knows, next January maybe you’ll have no blues, just a sense of accomplishment!