Isn't it amazing that all over the world newborn babies grow up to speak the language that their parents speak? If you had been born in France, you'd be speaking French.

Maybe you can speak, read, write, or understand two languages. That would make you bilingual. (You'd be trilingual if you could speak three languages; some people speak even more.) Your native language, or "mother tongue," is the first language you learned, most likely the one you speak at home. Now you may be taking a foreign-language course in school.

Theories About How Language Began

Words give you power. They give you the ability to share your thoughts and ideas. Written words can help you tune in to the thoughts of people who lived long ago or who live far away. Words also help you to imagine anything-experiences you've never had and events far into the future. (For a sampling of some English words and the ideas they let you express, see the words on "The Ultimate Word ... read full excerpt from How to Build a Super Vocabulary ebook