Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Instead of trying to learn individual languages, linguists want to know how language works. Where did language come from How are languages developing How does language affect the way we think, the way we interact, and our cultural identity What are the mental processes involved in understanding, producing, and acquiring language What does language development in childhood look like, and how do we learn additional languages later in life What are the linguistic and cognitive consequences of bilingualism. The answers to these questions are to be found by looking at the human capacity for language and how that is realized in different ways in different languages. About 7,000 different languages are spoken in the world today, and their similarities are remarkable. By looking at these similarities and differences, linguists hope to get to the heart of language, to the quality that makes humans unique.