The BBC World Service will launch 11 new language services as part of its biggest expansion since the 1940s. BBC director general Tony Hall said that this is a historic day for the BBC, as we announce the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s.<br/><br/>The expansion is a result of the funding boost announced by the UK government last year. The new languages will be Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Igbo, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin, Punjabi, Telugu, Tigrinya, and Yoruba. The first new services are expected to launch in 2017.