ABSTRACT
AUNDREDyearsagothefactthatdifferentlanguageswerespokenindifferentpartsoftheworldinconvenienced onlyaminority.Mostofthosewhowishedorwere
obligedtogoabroad,exceptinwar,werepeoplewhohad themoney,theleisureandtheculturalbackgroundtolearn severalmajorlanguages.Moreover,theeducationoftherich wasthensomuchbaseduponGreekandLatinthatthelearningofotherlanguagesmustatleasthaveseemedeasier.Today thelanguagebarrierisfeltfarmorewidely.MostEnglish peoplehaveatleastsomehopeofaholidayabroadatsome time;tradeandculturalexchangesareofincreasingimportance,andBritishfirmshavesometimeslostbusiness,for example,bynotgivinginstructionsfortheuseofsome machineinthelanguageoftheimportingcountry.Stillmore important,theproblemofsomehowpreservingpeaceand promotingactiveco-operationintheworldhasbecomethe greatestproblemofourtime,sinceallotherprogress,survival itself,dependsonthis.
