When we think of international languages some may think of the failed Esperanto, or maybe English, however many would argue that English is not an international language, since it cannot penetrate language barriers and there are far more people who understand Mandarin Chinese. Therefore is there any international language which can be stood by nationalities from all over the World? Well in my opinion yes, however it depends on your definition of what a language is. In my view a language is any method which can communicate ideas between humans. Therefore I would argue that maths, music, the arts, computer programming and some bits of the sciences are international languages.

Maths for example is based on the same principles and symbols e.g. +, =, 1, through out the World. Therefore maths can be understood by anyone on the planet as long as they have some mathematical knowledge. Music is also a worldwide language, since the symbols used in music are all the same through out the World, so music created by a German composer does not need translating for it to be understood and played by a English musician or French musician. Apart from this music can also convey the same feelings and messages, a romantic piece of music can put across the same romantic connotations to anyone in the World. Picture and photographs (the arts) can be understood by many different people through out the world, take for example a picture of a child who is very thin and has ribs which protrude from its body. Most humans would understand that this child is malnourished, starving, in great suffering and on the verge of death. An image does convey a thousand words without the need for translation. Aspects of science have become international languages, the symbols and naming of different elements is the same though out the world. Therefore no matter who I was, as long as I had some knowledge of chemistry I would be able to read the chemical reactions written by someone who spoke a different language and is on the other side of the World.

Therefore next time you are learning to play a piece of music or learning a bit of chemistry, stop and think, you are learning a lingo which has no language barriers: a real international language.

Do you agree, can you think of any more international languages?

By Robert Dodd