A schoolboy who speaks seven languages has been named the most multilingual child in the UK.
Bruce Baillie-Hamilton, 14, can speak Russian, Mandarin, Arabic, French, German, Spanish and English.
He started learning French at the age of seven but fancied trying something more difficult and chose a language with a different alphabet.
He started Russian at the age of nine or 10 and then moved on to Mandarin and Arabic.
Bruce, from Callander near Stirling, has now been named the "Most Multilingual Child in Britain" after entering a competition run by publisher HarperCollins.
He conversed with six language experts via Skype to convince them of his ability.
The teenager enjoys the challenge of learning difficult languages.
He said: "I quite liked French and German at school so I wanted to try and expand my horizons so I started to learn Russian.
"At the beginning it was quite hard but I thought I may as well try and go as far as I could.
"After Russian I thought I may as well start something much harder so I decided to go for something without an alphabet and picked Chinese because it doesn't really have one.
"After Chinese I thought I may as well go back to a different alphabet so I picked Arabic."
He has put his languages to use on his travels and found that local people appreciate it.
He said: "I found that when you are in China and you can speak Chinese they are much more friendly and the change is dramatic."
Bruce began his studies at Beaconhurst School near Stirling, but last year moved to a school in Switzerland where he is further developing his flair for languages.
He took a GCSE in Russian at the age of 12, and GCSEs in Arabic and Chinese when he was 13, as well as an AS level in Russian.
The teenager says he can hold conversations in all his languages but is almost fluent in Russian.
Next on his list is the Lebanese dialect of Arabic which he may start studying in the future.
His mother Paula is proud of her son's achievements.
She said: "I am absolutely thrilled because he has worked so hard all these years and has put a lot of effort into it.
"He enjoys using the languages and communicating with them."