About 18 percent of Americans speak another language besides English. That’s a low number, considering that more than half of the world speaks two or three languages every day. In general, native English speakers tend to be monolingual. About 38% of British, for example, can speak at least one other language. Among European countries, only Hungary (35%) and Italy (37%) did worst. Ireland is right behind the UK, at 40%. But, we can’t totally fault Anglophones. After all, English is spoken by a quarter of the world. 400 million people speak English as their mother tongue. Besides, English is the language of research and of business, as highlighted by the Economist.

However, learning a new language can be a life-changing experience, even for English speakers. And, there’s a need for other languages. In 2010, then U.S. Secretary of Education Ann Duncan explained: “To prosper economically and to improve relations with other countries, Americans need to read, speak and understand other languages.” There are proven ways to effectively learn a new language. You can download your free copy of my 12 Keys to Learn a New Language . Here are 4 strange and interesting things I’ve found on learning languages:

1. Being able to shamelessly eavesdrop other people’s conversation

It’s amazing what some people would say in their native tongue. I was on the bus the other night and this guy was having a real spicy conversation with a friend. At first, I was annoyed, then I decided to pay closer attention. The things I heard could be a subject of a telenovela. Real crazy stuff. Yes, I could have heard many of these types of conversation in English, but it reduces the filters when someone thinks people nearby don’t understand what’s being said. Also, some people may shamelessly talk about others in public places because they don’t believe the person can understand them. So, knowing another language can come in handy.

2. Some people will refuse to speak with you in their native language

It doesn’t matter how fluent you are in a particular language, some native speakers may not engage in a conversation with you in that language even when you make the effort. So many times I’ve had the strange interaction with someone I would speak with in Spanish but replied in broken English. I would then say a complete sentence in Spanish, the person responds again in broken English. Carajo, I said, why is it so hard to believe that I can actually speak Spanish? The reason might be they worried that someone would speak so badly they will not understand, so they take the safe route by deciding not to engage. Time is precious. One of my friends from Mexico told me he was worried that he wouldn’t understand anything I said or wrote in Spanish but he was surprised by my fluency, though that was after numerous attempts to communicate in Spanish with him.

Another reason might be that people are trying to be nice and speak with you in a language they know you understand. The problem is that your command of their language might be better than their command of English. But, it’s difficult to know that unless we at least engage in a conversation.

3. Being able to get accurate meaning while using translation apps

Many people I know use Google translate on a regular basis, but the translation at times completely fails. I’m being generous here. Some words are translated literally and the context is completely lost. So, to translate to a language I don’t speak, say German, I would first directly translate from English to German. Then I would use back translation from German to English. If this doesn’t sound quite right. I would then use a different language that I speak, say French, and do the same thing until I get the best possible translation. I also try to use similar languages when using a translation app or software. For example, when I translate from English to Portuguese directly, some sentences just doesn’t sound right to me. I can pick up the meaning of some sentences but I don’t speak Portuguese (yet!), but I speak Spanish. So, I use Spanish whenever I need to translate to Portuguese, then use back translation to see if it makes sense. Portuguese and Spanish are very close, therefore, the translation using an app is more likely to be accurate.

Recently, a Turkish friend on Facebook posted a sentence in English requesting if anyone know how to translate it from English to Turkish. I’m pretty sure he was speaking to his English-speaking Turkish friends, but I jumped in to help. I don’t speak any Turkish at all (yet!), but using the combination of the multiple languages I speak, I was able to get what I think was a good translation. I was worried this wouldn’t work, but my friend was impressed.

4. Feeling comfortable in unfamiliar places

The power of languages shouldn’t be understated. Experts have argued on what is called “Linguistic relativity” which states that the structure of our language influences the way we think about and perceive the world. Benjamin Lee Whorf was very influential in that theory. However, most language experts currently believe that language doesn’t’ really influence the way we think. Linguist Roman Jakobson, for example, explains that the real difference relies on what each language requires speakers to express, not necessarily how the speakers may perceive things. In my experience, I can say that language may not influence how I see the world, but it does influence how I feel in a particular environment. I usually feel more at ease in unfamiliar places when I can at least use one language that I know. Language can be an empowerment tool.