Publication from CLIC IH Sevilla, a Spanish language school in Seville:

The Government has made a significant step forward in committing funds to support the transformation of the country's language capability, according to CILT, the National Centre for Languages.

The Centre's Director Isabella Moore is massively in favour of new funding for the National Languages Strategy. 'This shows that the Government is committed to ensuring that the vision described can become a reality' says Isabella Moore. 'We need to overcome the perception of ourselves as dyed in the wool monoglots, only able to speak English. Monolingualism is fast becoming outdated in today's world and will restrict opportunities and choices in the global future. Starting young and exposing children early to the idea of themselves as speakers of other languages is the key to bringing language education into the 21st century and consigning monolingualism to the history books.'

Since 1999 when the Government first supported the Early Language Learning Initiative, managed by CILT, and created NACELL (the National Advisory Centre for Early Language Learning), we have been developing the capacity needed to move primary languages forward. Now there is a solid basis on which to build.

So, how can you avoid falling into the trap on monolingualism? Well, for those of us too old to benefit from the government's new stance on language learning, there is always the possibility of studying a new language at a language school.

For instance, if you wished to learn Spanish in Spain there is nothing stopping you from taking a language holiday and coming home with a better grasp of Spanish. Business Spanish courses are proving increasingly popular as Spanish is the first language of many producing nations, and is spoken by suppliers. The ability to negotiate in different languages gives a highly professional impression of a business. When choosing a Spanish language school Spain is the first choice destination, likewise when choosing a Spanish school Spain is a good place to look.

The new language strategy encourages young people to focus on language learning from an early age. This is extremely important as motivation is lower for older English speakers to learn a foreign language, after years of 'getting by' with only one language. Spanish courses for juniors can prove to be great fun, for those enthusiastic enough to study during holiday time. At present, few English children go abroad on language holidays, while tens of thousands of European children visit English language schools in the UK and USA every year. Increasing amounts of parents consider it a sound long term investment sending the kids to Spanish school in Spain, effectively giving them a head start over their classmates.

It seems the government has finally acted to improve Britain's linguistic capabilities. Future generations are bound to benefit from this policy, and, if successful, it should be recorded as one of Labour's achievements.