The two official languages of Mallorca are Catalan and Spanish. However, there is also a local dialect of Catalan spoken on the island called mallorquí. Many of the locals we met last week spoke all three. At the same time, it was also our experience that everyone spoke English.

In Morocco, the two official languages are Arabic and Berber. Berbers are an ethnic group that predate the arrival of Arabs to the Maghreb region of North Africa. And today, about a quarter of Moroccans still speak it according to Wikipedia.

French colonial rule in Morocco (which lasted from 1912 to 1956) also means that a large percentage of the population speaks French. The "official" number was above 60% in 2012, but our experience in Marrakech has been that it's virtually everyone.

This has also been our experience with English. Though, interestingly enough, some of the locals have told us that this was not the case as recent as 10 years. English is a new phenomenon in Marrakech. Anecdotally, it means that many of the locals seem to speak a minimum of 4 languages.

This is, of course, par for the course in this part of the world. But as a Canadian who is working diligently to try and master only two languages -- I take a weekly French class at Alliance Française in Toronto -- it's an easy way to feel linguistically inadequate.

Languages are difficult. They're relatively easy to learn when you're young, but if you don't use them consistently and if you're not immersed, they're also easy to lose. Which is why some estimate that by the end of this century, at least 50% of the languages currently spoken will become critically endangered or completely extinct.

Here is how UNESCO classifies endangered languages:

The simple takeaway is that it starts with children. A "vulnerable" language, for instance, means that kids still speak the language, but that it may be restricted to only certain domains, such as at home with relatives. A "definitely endangered" language means that kids are no longer learning and speaking it. This is a kiss of death.

So to get a sense of where things are headed, it's a good idea to ask people, "what languages do kids learn in school and/or at home today?" And the answer to that question in Marrakech seems to suggest that English has overtaken French as the preferred second language after Arabic.

As we all become more globally connected, it only heightens the need for a lingua franca -- a common language that we can all use to communicate with each other. And today that global language is English. That certainly makes things easier and more efficient, but it also comes with negative consequences.

It is going to mean sacrificing the local languages and dialects that emerged at a time when the world wasn't so small.

When I was around 8 or 9 years old my mother put me into a French school in Toronto. Her logic was simple: “This is Canada. You should know how to speak both official languages. It will create opportunities for you in the future.”

But I hated it. I couldn’t speak a word of French at the time and so I would come home from school complaining that I couldn’t understand anything the teacher was saying. How was I supposed to learn anything? 

I begged her to put me back into an English school.

To her credit, my mother remained absolutely steadfast. She would say to me: “Trust me. You’re going to thank me for this later.”

Not surprisingly, I learned French. I was put into a special “intro” stream and so when my classmates were off learning a third language (German), I was given introductory classes designed to bring me up to their French level.

I still remember the sense of accomplishment I felt when I could finally carry on an actual conversation in French.

Sadly, at this point in my life, my French is fairly rusty. I really should work on that. But it’s decent enough that people in Montréal – which is where I am right now – will say to me: “You’re from Toronto. How is it that you speak French?” 

In fact, somebody said to me last night that in Montréal they typically encounter more French speakers from the U.S. than they do from Ontario. That surprised me. As a country, about 10 million Canadians report being able to speak French (2011 number).

Every time I visit Montréal, I marvel at the display of bilingualism that seems omnipresent in this city. And, if you grew up in an immigrant household, you may also speak a third language – the one your parents spoke to you in. I think that’s wonderful.

So with that: thanks mom.