I love language, and I have for a long, long time. My mom says that this is because I like to talk, which is probably true. Even if it is I still love to learn new languages. Growing up my best friend's mom was the Spanish teacher at our school, and as we grew up it wasn't uncommon for Señora to ask us questions in Spanish. Then like most students who are required to take a foreign language, I chose Spanish. I stuck with Spanish for all four years of high school and have continued it into college.

My obsession with language doesn't stop at taking classes. I enjoy going to panaderías (bakeries) and conversing with native speakers. Though sometimes they smile when I stumble over a word or say something that doesn't quite make sense I let them. We learn through trying and failing. My love for language also isn't limited to Spanish. There is a great program called Duolingo (which is free) and I have 6 languages.

Six.

Italian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, German and Hindi.

I have books that teach a few of these languages too. I have a book that is the dictionary for American Sign Language. I love language. I may not speak most of those languages well but I love learning them. I think the reason I love to learn them is because it makes the world smaller.

I sometimes find myself frustrated with the United States unwillingness to speak anything other than English. My younger sister is from India, where they have 22 official languages but recognize 1,652 languages and dialects. There are over 6,500 languages in the world. The United States only recognizes English but some studies show that there are around 300 languages used. How small we make our world by narrowing our minds to a single language.

What if you could walk down the street and understand everyone you passed? How much would we learn from each other? How many traditions could we share? How many fights could be talked through? Only about 400 million speak English as their native language, there are around 1,500 million that can speak English in general. Being able to speak Spanish widens the people I can converse with to 900 million more. Which on a planet of 7 billion isn't really that many.

Learning a new language has many benefits. It promotes creative thinking and problem-solving skills. It helps to learn new words in the native language. It enhances listening skills and helps connect people. Businesses predict that the number of bilingual people will continue to rise, so being bilingual will help get jobs! So pick up a book, or join an online program and start making the world a little smaller.