“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”  – Nelson Mandela

Language is an indispensable part of human life. It allows us to share our ideas, thoughts, and feelings with others. Without language, there is no human connection. Language is what makes us human. It is important to Culture and Society, to Business, and to every Individual’s communication and development. There are about 7151 languages in the world (as per Ethnologue). The number is constantly changing because new languages in the world emerge every day. More than 7k languages nevertheless half of the world speaks 10!!

Compared to all other continents, the Asian continent has the largest percentage depending on the number of languages spoken, around 32%. About 2,300 languages are spoken across the Asian continent. Also among the top 10 most spoken languages, 5 are Asian.

Learning a Foreign language :

 “One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” – Frank Smith

Communication is the key to every sphere of human life. To be able to excel at it, people learn a second language. When you learn a new language, you can experience a number of benefits depending on your requirements.

THE RISING DEMAND FOR ASIAN LANGUAGES :

 While the 19th century was known for Britain’s imperialism and the 20th century was the American century, based on these characterizations the 21st century is projected as the Asian Century. The dominance of Asian politics and culture, and persisting economic and demographic trends led to the birth of this concept. With Asian nations prominently seen as the future of economic giants, students these days are inclined toward Asian languages despite their difficulties. Also if we look at the facts- Mandarin-Chinese is the world’s most commonly spoken language, while Hindi-Urdu, Japanese, and Korean all rank in the top 20. In fact, 75% of the world’s population does not even speak one single word of English.

Acc to Duolingo, an education app, “ The meteoric rises of Asian languages indicate that global interest in these languages and their cultures is more than a passing fad. All five of the fastest-growing languages around the world are Asian languages! “

“Interest in languages usually follows global politics, economics, and culture. The study of Russian blossomed after the then-Soviet Union opened up. Arabic enrolments began to grow after the 9/11 attacks. The rising economic might of Japan and China fuelled interest in both those Asian languages, while the current mania to learn Korean is thought to be driven by the popularity of K-pop and K- dramas “ says Thomas, a language professor at UCLA.

Among the top 10 foreign languages in demand across the globe, are the East Asian languages- Chinese- Mandarin, Japanese and Korean. Before discussing each of them individually, the broader reasons of their popularity can be stated as –

• Their economic success is major China, Japan and Korea are the giants of development in Asia.
• Various European countries are negotiating free trade and association agreements

with these Asian countries, which makes it necessary to hire and give rise to opportunities of being hired,  those who speak these languages.

• Also, these countries offer scholarships and cultural exchange programs, directed both at undergraduate students and graduates, with one of the requirements to avail them, is to have a good basic knowledge of the