# John McWhorter: 4 reasons to learn a new language

English is fast becoming the world's universal language, and instant translation technology is improving every year. So why bother learning a foreign language? Linguist and Columbia professor John McWhorter shares four alluring benefits of learning an unfamiliar tongue.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2016
- Runtime: 10 min
- By: TED.com
- Genres: Education
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/JohnMcWhorter_2016)
- Licence or status: [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) (as the archive states it)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/JohnMcWhorter_2016?play=1)