In his Ratio discendi (1522) Melanchthon makes the case for the importance of studying the languages.  He writes:

"You must know that languages and literature are from heaven.  When in former times the Gospel had to be spread over the whole world, the apostles received the gift of tongues.  The same obtains today: the Gospel is reborn and, simultaneously, the study of languages is restored and with its help we learn the Gospel. . . .  Eloquence was once dead.  Now that God has restored it to life, we must guard the divine gift in every way" (Rummel, 145).

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