There are roughly 6500 languages spoken around the world today, with billions of people speaking in different tongues every second. We all communicate using speech and convey the same messages – but in different dialects. Knowing even just one more language opens a whole new world of culture, opportunities and the chance to connect with new people from different backgrounds.

Language is an essential skill in almost every profession. By learning Bengali, a doctor could communicate and connect with one of the 231,000 Bangladeshi patients in England. Doctor Nadia Khalid is fluent in Urdu and says "Being fluent in Urdu is extremely helpful in my working life. There are so many patients walking through the door that I can truly understand their ailments and connect with them. They feel as if there is someone working at the hospital that understands them, and I think that is really special." By learning German or Arabic, a businessman or woman could negotiate with the world’s leading countries in the pharmaceutical or oil sectors. By learning Japanese, a programmer could experience the latest technology from Japan and collaborate with many others in the computing world to create the newest devices. You can work or study abroad. In addition, many universities or jobs look for someone who is bilingual as they have a wider skill set and can bring an aspect of wider communication to the table. Having learnt another language, you will have developed listening, reading, writing and comprehensions skills, as well as learning to apply your knowledge and link what you know to figure out what don’t. These are all assets that are essential in any job and can help you in everyday life as well. By knowing another language, it sets you apart from the other possible candidates and helps introduce you to new opportunities.

Many people also have a desire to travel and explore different countries, their cuisines and beautiful landscapes. As many countries speak different languages, it can be difficult to communicate with everyone, from the waiter at the restaurant or the surf instructor down at the beach. If you know the native language of that country, you can travel extremely easily without wondering how to explain to the taxi driver where to go without using words. For example, if you know Spanish, travelling to Puerto Rico, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and so many more countries, is a breeze. You can communicate with the native people and make friends that last a lifetime. You can learn the beauty of a new language and people are bound to be impressed when you order your meal in fluent Italian.

Not only does learning a new language improve your social and work life, it is also proven to help your health! A study in Hyderabad, India showed that a sample of people who knew more than one language were more likely to develop dementia four years later than those who didn’t speak another language. Being fluent in another language has also proven to improve memory, provide a longer attention span and a reduced risk of age-related cognitive decline.

As you can see, there are endless benefits for multilingual people. Learning a new language does require hard work and dedication, but after you are fluent, all that hard work certainly pays off! So, log onto Memrise or Duolingo or whatever app suits you and invest into learning that new language you've always dreamed of knowing,