Language Around the World

Introduceyoung readers to the most interesting aspects of languages, how they evolve and change over time.

Humans' use of language is one of our distinguishing features. Language allows us to communicate what we think, what we want, what we feel and what we have learnt. Some 100,000 years ago, humans began speaking. Since then, we have developed nearly 7000 languages. Languages are living things; they evolve and change over time. They even travel! People carry their language with them and spread it. Large language families even have their own family trees, such as Spanish, French, English. Different languages can be mixed and combined to create new languages with similar words, pronunciation and grammar rules. Languages can even become extinct if they are not shared and learnt by each new generation. Spoken languages are not the only way we communicate. Sign language, braille, symbols, music, art, computer codes - humans have invented numerous ways of communicating. Sharing feelings, thoughts and ideas through the power of language is an essential part of being human.