IF you come from the Mediterranean areas, it may just be heartwarming to learn another language this season. Maybe you want to learn one of the dialects of Spain like Catalan or Basque. Or maybe you want to learn Portuguese because it is used in the neighboring country located in the same Iberian Peninsula where Spain is located. Also, it is heartening to note too that the European Union has urged all its inhabitants to learn another language while they are still here in this continent. The rationale behind it is this – Europe is the smallest continent in the world and a contiguous one at that yet each country has a separate language. In other words, it’s a barrier for progress.

Europe is really as special one at that when it comes to that situation. Take note of North America. There are only three languages spoken in three countries (the United States, Canada and Mexico) – English, French and Spanish. The entire Central and South Americas speak only one language – Spanish. The subcontinent of Australasia which includes Australia, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Fiji speak Australian English only. Middle East speak Arabic while most of the countries in Africa speak English. Asia is an exception being not contiguous and being the largest continent on Earth. But in Europe, we have lots of languages here.

Actually, the languages of Europe have only one origin – German and Frankish. They were the languages spoken of old by both nomadic and settling tribes. Later when the Romans invaded Europe, they absorbed these two languages in their own historic tongue. Thus, all the languages found in Europe right now including English off the Island of Great Britain as well as Spanish, Portuguese, modern German, modern French and even the Slavic languages to some extent as well as the Scandinavian languages up north emerge from one language – Roman. Thus we can deduce these languages as Romance languages. It’s entirely different from romance which is associated with erotic. Yet when you come to Paris this Christmas to learn French, we can say that it is indeed a romantic language.

Indeed, it is romantic to spend Christmas here in Paris and learn the local language at the same time. It is even nicer if you already have a Parisian date waiting for you in the City of Lights so you can stroll around the city at the same time the woman will teach you a few words in the French vocabulary while dining elegantly with bouillabaisse complete with either white or red wine at a posh Paris restaurant. The City of Lights which is Paris is literally that during Christmas season. The Eiffel Tower is lighted up including other key structures in the city such as Champs Elysees, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe and numerous others.

Or if you want to spend Christmas in a warmer land, then go to Australia. It’s the middle of summer there in Australia during Christmas and our traditional noche buena is celebrated there as a Christmas Day luncheon every December 25.