I have had met a number of people who are from other parts of the world and honestly, I must admit I have almost developed a fear towards foreigners. That baseless fear came about not only because foreigners have a different physical appearance, but basically since they speak a language that is totally alien to me.

I have met Japanese, French, Chinese, Korean and German people during different times and situations through mutual friends and relatives. The truth is I tried to hide from their view but then I wasn’t able to evade them totally. I assumed I wouldn’t be able to communicate with them since they came from supposedly strange lands but hey, as time went by I realized we all had something in common—we all know how to speak English! I never really got to talk a lot with them since they never stayed for long and they were just passing by in our country, but every now and then we still communicate through email and in the language most of us understand—English!

One of my foreign friends Ian (the one from Germany), happens to be my godmother’s son and every now and then he calls up or sends emails in order to catch up with what is going on over here in my hometown. He had been here a few years ago and my friends and I gave him a grand tour of the city. Ian was born here but he eventually grew up in Germany since that is where his father came from. Ian acquired the German language when he was still a small boy but his parents continued to speak to him in English that is why it is still a part of his treasure trove of languages (He speaks Spanish and French as well. No kidding!). During his stay here we communicated in English since he can barely speak in my native dialect and I can barely converse in German. We may have come from different parts of the world but one language broke communication barriers for us and we are grateful for that.

I, unlike Ian and other multilingual people, only know English and I am only familiar with the native dialect of my hometown and the national language of my country. Technically I can be called a multilingual person but in the wider scope of the world, the only foreign language I know is English. I must say I envy those who can speak more than 3 or 5 languages but I am proud that I am not that far behind in the world since I know at least one foreign language.

I have considered learning other foreign languages but I don’t know which I should choose. I am interested in all of them but I must figure out which one will be very useful for me in the future either for career or travel opportunities or simply just for fun. Well, I am still young and I am interested in expanding my horizons. I wouldn’t be surprised if I will learn to speak two more foreign languages instead of one and I will be more than delighted to be able to communicate with more people from different parts of the world!

Consider involving yourself in different online games to interact and make friends who speak your target language - whether it is in a casino en ligne to speak French or a German chat room about gardening, you’re sure to enjoy and it’s a lot more fun than reading grammar books!

IF you have just started learning English in your junior year in high school here in Spain, then be good at it. For learning English can really make you competitive once you enter university by the time you have graduated in high school. Out there in the university, there are lots of subjects which are taken in English simply because it’s the only way to be competitive globally. I mean, you certainly cannot migrate to Canada and work as a civil engineer there if you are learning civil engineering in a Spanish university only in Spain. Practicality is definitely the name of the game.

So this early, start being serious in learning your English. Don’t settle for a passing grade but maximize your learning of the stuff instead. There are indeed lots of things you can do to maximize your learning English. Log in to the Internet for example and read articles in English. You may also want to chat so you can practice your English skills more. There are lots of platforms to chat. There’s mIRC. There’s Yahoo! Messenger. There’s Windows Live Messenger. Or, for those who love a bit of excitement, there’s gaming sites where you can chat and have one to one English classes with your fellow competitors, playing poker online for example.

One degree that is certainly feasible to take in college if you are in Spain nowadays is in economics. After all, it is not just Spain but the whole financial world in Europe that is constantly monitoring economic events in the United States whose imminent recession due to the collapse of the mortgage market has been prevented by the constant Federal Reserve rate cut and Congress’s passage of a tax break scheme. And while studying economics for eight academic semesters at the Universidad de Madrid, why not surf through the English business channels in your television. Notable among these business channels are Bloomberg and CNBC. You will surely learn a lot. And on the side, you may want to browse CNNMoney.com, the world’s most comprehensive financial news website. If your dad has a monthly subscription of Fortune, then read its contents religiously to hone your English skills and merge them with your passion in the field of economics. On Bloomberg, you will chance upon really good content accidentally. While writing this article, I’m watching Bloomberg for example and right now, the one interviewed on screen is none other than Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman. The guy was awesome during the interview. He was so confident, upbeat and bullish about the current writers’ strike in Hollywood that has little effect on his business simply because the TV stations under Viacom’s fold are not major networks. He also says that he is continuing a healthy professional relationship with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen through the company they own, Dreamworks Pictures.

If you aim to become an environmentalist, then watching the Discovery Channel is a must. Last night, I was watching a documentary about prehistoric sea species millions of years before man came. There were giant scorpions and fish with soft backbones. The documentary was awesome.

IF you come from Madrid, you may want to learn another dialect in Spain so you can travel to other areas and converge with the locals. For example, if you want to travel to the Andalucian region, you may want to know their local dialect there so you can be given fresh yummy fish where you can grill later on in your vacation home garnished with olive oil. Among the top dialects in Spain are Catalan and Basque. So if you are armed with these languages, you can easily go to Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Tenerife and Las Palmas. The latter two is already located in Africa. But if you really want to explore the rest of the Spanish-speaking population in the world, then go to the Americas from as affluent as Florida to as cold as Chile bordering on Antarctica.

Back home, there are already lots of tourists in Spain so it wouldn’t hurt learning another European language either. There are vast numbers of British tourists here every year and so learning British English is really an advantage if you want to take a shot in investing or working in the local hospitality industry here in Spain. Take note that British English is peculiarly different from American English because it distinctly lacks the r sound. That is what is called as the non-rhotic accent. The non-rhotic accent can be traced back to the 15th century when certain words in English such as barse are changed to bass. A similar form of non-rhotic accent is practiced Down South in Australasia which comprises the countries of Australia and New Zealand as well as the New England states in upper United States.

Meanwhile, American English is practiced in the United States and half of Canada. The other half of Canada by the way speak French. Speaking of French, it is a language which is entirely European in origin and it even came from a place just in the border with Spain – France. But if your trip is to go all the way across the Atlantic this Christmas season, then go to Quebec or any other city in Montreal so you can learn French. You may want to explore the tourist spots in Montreal such as the Old Montreal, Plateau Mont Royal, Basilique Notre Dame and Christ Church Cathedral. Or you may want to visit the towering Olympic Stadium. Built for the 1976 Olympics, it is the world’s tallest leaning structure.

Meanwhile, the European Union has consistently urged all its citizens to learn another language. This is to uncreate the Babel-like world that has persisted Europe nowadays. Europe is the smallest continent in the world and a contiguous one at that yet each country speaks a different language. But languages in Spain originate from two languages though – Germanic and Frankish. These two languages were merged together by the conquering Romans and spread as different languages such as modern-day German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Finnish, Norwegian, Scottish, Irish and English.

You can see all these countries, experiencing their languages and rich cultures, by investing in Europe trains passes. They offer the traveller flexibility and so he/she can really make the most of their time abroad without haven’t to worry about journey restrictions (nor extra costs!)