But, as many parents and teachers already know, it’s not always easy to get them interested…

That’s where EuroTalk’s Junior Language Challenge can help.  It’s an annual competition that challenges primary school-age children across the British Isles to learn foreign languages.

Crucially the competition makes learning easy, fun and rewarding. It does this largely thanks to EuroTalk’s Talk Now! range of language learning software for beginners, which is given out free to all entrants, either as a CD-ROM or as an immediate download.

The Talk Now! range, which works on both PCs and Macs, motivates children in the same way that gaming software does by awarding points for language ability in different levels of games.

The competition also encourages children to learn by offering prizes. First prize is a family holiday of a lifetime to Africa. There are also prizes for runners up; in the past these have included an Apple Mac laptop, a Nintendo DS and an iPod.

The overall winner is decided, after a series of knock-out heats, at the competition’s grand final in October in London. 

If you’re interested in entering your child or pupil now is a good time. The competition launches on March 1st, and Italian will be the first language to be studied. Children who are successful in early heats will also be challenged to learn up to two other languages before the final.

All entrants in the competition need to be aged ten or under on 1 September 2010.

For more details about registering please see our “How To Sign Up” section. All individual entries need to be accompanied by a £2.50 donation, which will go to EuroTalk’s chosen charity, Brighter Start. School entries will be invoiced when the first round closes.