While many people agree that everyone should be able to speak another language, in many countries only about half can do so.
There have never been more opportunities to work or study in a different European country - but lack of language competence prevents many people from taking advantage of them.
Globalisation and patterns of business ownership mean that citizens increasingly need foreign language skills to work effectively within their own countries.
Europe is rich in languages - there are over 200 European languages and many more spoken by citizens whose family origin is from other continents.
Learning other peoples' languages is a way of helping us to understand each other better and overcome our cultural differences.
And of course, you are never too old to learn a new language.