I am lucky enough to go to a school where language is a compulsory subject. I currently take spanish as one of my GCSE subjects yet I know that if given the choice in year 9 I probably wouldn't have chosen a language at all. I knew I wasn't going to live in another country, be a translator or be a language teacher, so why did I have to learn a language?  

Having been learning spanish for GCSE since September, I have come to understand the importance of it. We live in a world with so many different and amazing cultures and living in such a small area of england, I barely get to experience them. Learning another language gives you the opportunity to have something in common with someone living hundreds/thousands of miles away. 

In a world filled with so much hatred, we need to learn to accept each other and the first step to that is learning about someone else' language and way of life. 

Language is an extremely important way of life. Next time you travel to somewhere where english isn't the first language put in the effort to learn the basics "hello", "goodbye", "thank you", "excuse me". It may not be a lot but its a start and it means the world to the person you are saying it to as it shows you care and you want to communicate despite the language barrier. 

Maisie Fletcher, LPGS