GARY LINEKER “As the world gets smaller, there’s never been a better opportunity to get into languages.”

LUCY LIU “I’d love to do a French movie or a Spanish movie, in the language. When you speak a different language, whether or not you’re fluent in it, you immerse yourself into a completely different person.”

VIGGO MORTENSEN “It helps if you know more than one language. You have a little head start on adapting, you can get your mouth around certain words and vowel sounds a little easier than if you only come at it from an English-speaking background.”

PAULA RADCLIFFE “Although I’m known first and foremost as an athlete, my foreign language skills have given me another dimension to my career. I regularly use French and German when I travel to compete in Europe.”

Sir TREVOR McDONALD “Language learning at its best can be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences that life can offer.”

JOHN CLEESE “Learning a language makes our minds stronger and more flexible. Actually using it gives us an entirely new experience of the world.”

DIANE MODAHL “I know lots of people speak English, but being prepared to say something in someone else’s language is a way of showing them that you care, that you are prepared to make the effort and you don’t just expect them to speak your language. That’s quite arrogant actually, isn’t it?”

COLIN FIRTH “Well, it’s wonderful to have an excuse to learn a language. My wife’s English is better than my Italian will ever be. But, if you‘re going to live your life with someone then you should, as a mark of respect, try to learn their way of conceptualising things.”

FEDERICO FELLINI “ A different language is a different vision of life.”

MARK HUGHES “I wish I had learnt languages at school, because you never know where your career is going to take you.”

JODIE FOSTER “I wish that I spoke more languages.”

EDDIE IZZARD “There are so many languages I’d like to learn to perform in- Russian, Italian.”

Dame ELLEN MACARTHUR “It’s always fantastic to be able to communicate with people, whether it’s when you are signing an autograph or when you are doing a full on interview or during a tough moment at sea with a crew.”