Learning new languages potentially gives people vital skills to build more successful relationships, and understanding the social influences at work today may help us to know which type of language education is most beneficial. This article explores three social influences--globalisation, localisation and glocalisation--from the perspective of their effect on language use. It is suggested that glocalisation provides the most useful term to describe the reality of social interaction at the start of the 21st century and that language education should be shaped by the impact of this social influence on language use. (Contains 4 notes.)