Every language in the world – from English to Mandarin – evolved from a prehistoric ‘mother tongue’ first spoken in Africa tens of thousands of years ago, a new study reveals.
After analysing more than 500 languages, Dr Quentin Atkinson found compelling evidence that they can be traced back to a long-forgotten dialect spoken by our Stone Age ancestors.
The findings don’t just pinpoint the origin of language to Africa – they also show that speech evolved at least 100,000 years ago, far earlier than previously thought.

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Learning a foreign language takes time and dedication. The reasons below may help to convince you to take the plunge, if such persuasion is needed. Some reasons are practical, some aspirational, some intellectual and others sentimental, but whatever your reasons, having a clear idea of why you’re learning a language can help to motivate you in your studies.

Kolik jazyků znáš, tolikrát jsi člověkem.
You live a new life for every new language you speak.
If you know only one language, you live only once.
(Czech proverb)

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2. 10 good reasons why you should be learning a foreign language
“I speak English, so I don’t have to learn a foreign language….”

Everyone speaks English, right? Well, certainly not everyone speaks English. According to the CIA World Fact Book, only 5.6 % of the world’s total population speaks English as a primary language. That number doubles when people who speak English as a second or third language are counted. By conservative estimates, that means that well over four-fifths of the world’s population does not speak English.

It’s true that English has become a global lingua franca over the past several decades. This fact, however, really should have little effect on your decision to learn a foreign language. The attitude that English alone is enough in fact creates self-imposed limitations. To remain monolingual is to stunt your educational development, to restrict your communication and thinking abilities, and to deny yourself the ability to fully appreciate and understand the world in which you live. Learning another language opens up new opportunities and gives you perspectives that you might never have encountered otherwise. Personal, professional, social, and economic considerations all point to the advantages of learning foreign languages. Still not convinced? Here are 10 very good reasons why you should be learning a foreign language:

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English may be the lingua franca of the business world, but if you’re not up for a rendezvous with a language prof, you could be drawing your own limits.

“Foreign languages these days have only advantages,” notes global citizen coach Elizabeth Kruempelmann — and that’s not just for the time zone-trotting polyglots who close deals in foreign restaurants before jetsetting to exotic airports.

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2. Foreign language skills are essential for global business journalists

Angel Gonzalez, who in recent weeks of his coverage for Dow Jones News Wires has flown over the BP oil spill by helicopter and ridden in boats with local officials, is the prototype for today’s global business journalist.

He is trilingual, he writes online, he writes for print, he does video and he has written a number of long stories on his BlackBerry. Whatever works at the time.

In today’s coverage, fluency in languages other than English and confidence in reporting with a variety of mediums makes a journalism graduate attractive to global business journalism organizations expanding their reach country by country. News bureaus in places like Shanghai and Dubai want bilingual reporters.

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Earlier this year the former chief inspector of English schools, Mike Tomlinson, described Britons as “barbarians” when it came to learning foreign languages.

Research published this week, which suggested fewer than one in 10 British workers could speak a foreign language, even to a basic level, appeared to show the accusation was well-founded.

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2. 10 Tips for Language Learning Success

1. Set realistic expectations

It is natural to feel uncomfortable in a language class. You’re used to being in classes where the mode of communication — the language of instruction — is a given.

In a language course, however, it is the mode of communication itself that is the focus of instruction. For this reason, a language course is different than most other courses you will ever take. Not understanding and making mistakes — things that are negative learning indicators in other courses — are a very natural part of the language learning process. Accept the fact that you will not understand everything. In fact, at the very beginning, you will not understand much at all.

Remember that during the initial period of adaptation your ear and your mind are adjusting to the sounds and the rhythm of the language. Though you will not understand all of what is being said, you will be amazed at your increasing ability to make sense of the language. Remember that the only way to learn the language is through practice, practice, and more practice; in the course of practicing you will make many errors … and you will learn from them.

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At the initiative of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, the European Day of Languages is celebrated since 2001 on 26 September.

Throughout Europe, 800 million Europeans represented in the Council of Europe’s 47 member states are encouraged to learn more languages, at any age, in and out of school. Being convinced that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent, the Council of Europe promotes plurilingualism in the whole of Europe.

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2. Spanish On The Rise As A Foreign Language In Eastern Europe

According to a recent report by the Instituto Cervantes, the interest in Spanish language and culture is on the rise in many countries in Eastern Europe. Spanish music, literature, movies, football, as well as tourism and the massive emigration from Eastern Europe to Spain are factors that have influenced the number of people that choose to study Spanish as a foreign language. In countries such as Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, people have become much more interested in the Spanish reality and want to learn more about the culture and its people.

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