The wise Johann Wolfgang Goethe once said that he who does not know foreign language in fact doesn’t know his own. That could, among other things, mean that knowing foreign languages gives us the opportunity to look at all the beauty of our own language from a distance. All those who reluctantly learn foreign languages could use the information that there are approximately 6.809 languages.
Still, it seems that this number will soon fall because 357 languages are used by less than 50 people. This information is confirmed by professor from a British University, who states that there are such languages that are used by one man. Research done by this expert has shown that languages disappear faster than some types of birds or mammals. Richness of some peoples is in the richness of words which it uses, and apart from that translating certain phrases and expressions from other languages is no simple task, because there are some words that simply cannot be translated.
Translating phrases from foreign languages can be problematic even for experts on certain language however it is no easier for those who have the misfortune to translate literature of English authors to other languages. When problems of that kind occur, of course it is necessary to contact the author, so that he could clarify the meaning and to find the word or expression that has analogue meaning.