European Day Of Languages

Street Scene, Bologna, Italy

A little language learning goes a long way, so start talking with these 5 language videos.

The European Day of Languages is held annually on 26th September to celebrate language and cultural diversity.

The first event was in 2001, the European Year of Languages, and it involves more people every year. This celebration of all the world's languages takes place throughout the UK and in 45 countries across Europe.

As well as increasing awareness and appreciation of languages, the event focuses on the importance of language learning and the value of language skills. It's the perfect time to kick-start lifelong language learning.

Why not set yourself a language challenge? You can identify your own goal and use it as an incentive to boost learning. Examples include:

  • Learning basic greetings in a partner's or friend's language
  • Reciting a poem in a new language
  • Learning enough language to introduce colleagues at a business event
  • Being able to order travel tickets, food and drink on holiday
  • Encouraging grandchildren to say hello in a new language and talking to them about places you've travelled to
Have you been inspired to take up a language challenge? You can tell us about it by leaving a comment below or discuss in the 50connect forum.

To get you going, we've picked five videos to help you brush up on or learn new language skills:

Spanish

French

Mandarin

Italian

Russian

Web Links

View the Council of Europe Events calendar for details of planned activities in the UK and across Europe at: www.cilt.org.uk/edl

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