Language explained to kids

Language is a system of communication that consists of a set of symbols (usually consisting of words) and a set of rules for using those symbols. The word "language" can refer to the system as a whole, or to any one of the various systems that exist (such as English or Spanish). There are estimated to be around 6,500 languages spoken in the world today. The vast majority of these are spoken by a small number of people, often in just one or a few villages. About 2,000 languages are spoken by more than a million people. The most widely spoken language in the world is Mandarin Chinese, which is spoken by around 1.3 billion people. Language is thought to have originated around 100,000 years ago, although the first written languages date back only around 6,000 years. The study of language is known as linguistics. Languages can be broadly divided into two categories: natural languages and artificial languages. Natural languages are those that have developed over time without any specific design, such as English or French. Artificial languages are those that have been specifically designed, such as Esperanto or programming languages. Languages can also be classified according to how they are used. spoken languages are those that are used for communication between people, while written languages are those that are used for communication in the form of text. Most languages are spoken languages, but there are some that are used mainly in sign language. Some languages, such as programming languages, are used mainly in writing.