Language is, no doubt, an important pre-condition of the human existence as well as a means of cognition and thinking, a manifestation of human mind, means communication, influence, cultural development, learning and dissemination of information. Knowledge of languages facilitates openness and tolerance, which, in turn, opens the door to new opportunities.

The 21^st century is the century of global opportunities and challenges. What seemed impossible 40 years ago is the reality of today. Economical and political migration, opportunities provided by modern technologies to access, see, experience, change, observe and discuss events elsewhere in the world both being physically present as well as remotely, hold and participate in teleconferences and workshops for cross-country working groups, join the distance learning courses offered by the best HEIs of the world, all that is made available today. Globalisation is an even bigger reality, as it changes the rules of the game and highlights even more the importance of languages and cross-cultural communication knowledge and skills in our dynamic everyday life.

Inviting the EU Member States to immediate action in order to ensure that the young people acquire the skills and competences required on the labour market, the European Commission launched the implementation of the Rethinking Education Strategy at the turn of 2012, inter alia proposing a new criterion directly concerning foreign languages learning. Having collected data about the foreign language proficiency and skills of the Member State students as well as conducted an in-depth research on the expected challenges in the context of foreign language learning, the European Commission set a new benchmark: by 2020, at least 50% of 15 year olds should have sufficient knowledge of a first foreign language and at least 75% should study a second foreign language. At the turn of 2012, the Higher Education Academy’s report “Languages and entrepreneurship guide for students” was published featuring case studies from former students with information on how the knowledge of languages and intercultural skills as well as experience abroad helped them to set up businesses, thereby reconfirming the direct relationship between international mobility and employment.

The importance of such skills is further confirmed by the report “Competing across borders: How cultural and communication barriers affect business” published by “The Economist” in 2012. Within the framework of this survey, 572 executives in Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America were interviewed, concluding that almost two thirds of organisations, despite realising the importance of effective and productive cross-border communication, do not take any corrective steps. An important conclusion is that contrary to the expectations of many economists, the current economic downturn is spurring companies to become more international and conquer new markets which, no doubt, confirms the importance of languages and cross-cultural communication.

Finally, we would like to note that the Eurydice report “Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe 2012” published by the European Commission and covering 32 European states also concludes that during the last 15 years most EU Member States have reduced the starting age for compulsory foreign language learning. In this context, the intention of the Ministry of Education and Science to start teaching foreign languages to students of all general education establishments already from Form 1 starting from the academic year 2014/2015 is highly welcome and it will help children learn their first foreign language early as well as provide much wider global information, knowledge and opportunities.

FYI: Dynamic University infogram "Student mobility and knowledge of languages in the European Union” developed on the basis of data published by the European Commission in 2012.