How 'foreign' are 'foreign languages'?

Many people think foreign languages are alien to us, unless of course we've spent years studying them. But is this really the case? Or can we actually understand some words in a different language – even if we've never studied that language before? In episode 1 of the LinguaMania podcast, Professor Martin Maiden suggests that languages aren't always as foreign as we think, especially if we have some tricks up our sleeve to help us decipher them. You can see the full transcription of the podcast on the Creative Multilingualism website: https://www.creativeml.ox.ac.uk/linguamania-episode-1