There was a time when being bilingual meant speaking two languages. But nowadays being bilingual involves speaking a different language -- that of HTML.

We live in a technological age, and many employers are looking for proficiency with computer languages, in particular HTML and CSS. I admit that when I attended design school 9 years ago I wanted nothing to do with coding. But a couple of years ago when I was moving into book design, I was faced with a hard truth: book design was no longer about laying out a book for print. It also involved laying out a book for the iPad and the Kindle, known as ePub. And that involved coding. So I dipped my toes in by reading up about it. But a year ago I moved into building websites and somehow my resistance to coding had melted away.

With all the blogs out there, standing out is key. Nowadays design is so important.

A 25-year-old London web designer recently lead a campaign to put HTML, CSS and Javascript on the school national curriculum so that every child in Britain -- and then the world -- receives a compulsory education from age 6. His mission is to teach the world to code, to empower people to control their computers instead of the other way around.

Earlier this year, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg took part in a campaign called Code Year to encourage more people to program.

So what do you say? Will you join the rest of the world and learn to code in the New Year? If you are interested in getting started, I have a couple of resources that I recommend -- Codeacademy, and Don't Fear the Internet.

Do you believe that coding skills is important on the job? Would you want coding to be required on the school curriculum along with French and Spanish?

Share your thoughts. Do you plan to learn to code? And if you have learned, what has been your experience? Do share with us!