European day of languages: cat got the European tongue
The concept of ‘lost in translation’ isn’t really a valid one anymore. Why learn languages if French and Czechs are communicating with each other in English at any random conference in Madrid or Krakow? Why stuff your brain with vocabulary, young Brits ask themselves, if at the end your German degree doesn’t get you high up on the job ladder? And why try and understand your neighbour, if the Belgian melting pot hasn’t even worked out – today the country is threatening to split into French and Flemish parts. Even an EU commissioner from Luxembourg is criticised in the media for addressing a message to France in English whilst in Brussels. Language is the smallest common denominator of mutual understanding and integration. The European Day of Languages promotes each 26th of September for consistent language diversity on the old continent
Brief status of sign language in Europe
A great number of languages exist within Europe – over two hundred in fact! Twenty-three of these are official languages of the EU; next to these national languages are many regional and minority languages. In addition to these are sign languages, whoich have had their first official 'deaf week 2010' in Berlin in September
Portmanteau words: Denglisch in Europe
Europe’s hybrid languages are little spoken of though oft spoken. Trend tour of continental mouths, including Franglais, Spanglish, Italenglish, Ponglish, and so on, and so forth
media, tower of babel, anglicism, language, european day of languages
‘Learning German is pointless’: British students abandon foreign languages
Could the British actually be getting worse at language learning? Apparently so. In a 21st century UK, more young people than ever are questioning why they should learn a second language at all
school, youth, society, life-long learning, european day of languages, education system, multilingualism, languages
Romain Galati: 'In ten years people will be speaking more languages'
To mark the European day of languages on 26 September 2010 we spotted a project where learning languages and promoting integration went hand in hand. Meet the founder of Language Exchange International (LEI)
Luxemburg: three languages, one nation
It is not easy to establish a national identity when foreigners make up 38% of a country’s population, especially when it is a country that has to sit between France and Germany. However, sometimes a small country can teach the European Union a wonderful lesson on integration.
european court of justice, immigration, luxembourg, feature, cities, economy, languages, nationalism
Belgium: a linguistic laboratory
Belgium's autonomous regions aren't speaking the same language.
brussels, university, flanders, politics, multiculturalism, vlaams belang, federalism, multilingualism, culture, economy, languages, nationalism
