This is one of the oldest idioms on the book. But today, it's turning out to be true. Everyone has heard a language that they didn't understand. Some estimates state that there are up to 7,000 different languages. And those are just foreign languages and probably don't include the many different dialects or versions of a language that are spoken from town to town. I'm sure that we will never truly know how many languages exist, especially with the many undiscovered people groups in Africa.
While most of us will never hear anyone ask us "Si jeni?" ("How are you?" in Albanian), we may see a Spanish soap opera on TV or French instructions in a manual. Some people are able to simply change the channel or ignore the words. People like myself, however, were born with a natural curiosity to understand the unknown and learn more about it. That's why foreign languages have always intrigued me, because they have the power to connect us to the unknown. But learning a foreign languages isn't just something to do if you're bored. It can be very useful.
A quick look in the newspaper, at a product in a store or a trip outside will reveal that non-English languages are becoming very popular in the United States. Spanish is perhaps the language that is growing the fastest. Many states have laws that require that require ballots to be printed in both English and Spanish. Spanish now appears everywhere on ads and products and most major companies announce that they accept Spanish customers. In a world where English doesn't dominate the people, people that only know English will be left out. I know that I don't want to be the guy that is left out, so I'm going to start my language adventures early.
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