Learning a new language could be perceived as a compulsion – as something that you need to do. The disadvantage of being in a foreign land is the perpetual state of partial or complete ignorance to whatever is happening in one’s surroundings.
On the other hand, language learning is analogous to playing a game – something that you get to do. Every time you step outside your house, you can plug in and start playing – at supermarkets, through billboards on the subway or through flight announcement.
There are several extrinsic reasons to learn a new language – to move to a different country, to integrate better, to make new friends, to improve one’s cognition. But to learn a new language is to also play a game. It needs no other reason.
