This article presents the author's speech for the languages leader event on September 21, 2005. This speech focuses on the importance of learning languages, and in particular, the role that the Higher Education sector can play in making a reality of the Department's National Languages Strategy. In his speech, the author describes how UK fares badly against European neighbours when it comes to speaking foreign languages. He stresses the role of the Higher Education (HE) sector as the major supplier of trained language teachers and offers an example of innovative pedagogical practice in HE. He urges the leaders in HE institutions to give even greater prominence to language learning in HE and to internationalisation of the curriculum.