The European Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since 2001 on 26 September in cooperation with the European Commission, at the suggestion of the Council of Europe. This year’s European Day of Languages, with participation of around 1,000 children, was organized as part of the European Opportunity Week (23-27 September) at the European House in Belgrade.
This year’s event, designed to be interactive, was organized by the EUNIC Serbia in cooperation with the Council of Europe, the Delegation of the European Union, the Children’s cultural Centre Belgrade and the Ministry of European Integration.
The invent this year is intended for children between the ages of 12 and 18 with the aim of drawing attention to the importance of learning foreign languages, as well as bringing the diversity of Europe closer to all visitors. 22 countries and organizations participated in the event, and more than 16 languages were represented, including Serbian sign language and Romani. Visitors had the opportunity to learn about the cultures and languages of different European countries at the “language tables” of embassies and cultural centres and to take part in quizzes and thus check their knowledge, fill their passports with stamps and win valuable prizes in a raffle provided by various cultural institutes and embassies.
“The European Day of Languages is a joint initiative of the EU and the Council of Europe that celebrates the richness and diversity of European languages – more than 200 languages are spoken throughout Europe, while the EU currently has 24 official languages. We organized this year’s program with the EUNIC Serbia network – a network of cultural institutes of EU member states and broader Europe, then with the Children’s Cultural Centre Belgrade and the Ministry of European Integration, with the aim of offering school children mini language lessons, knowledge quizzes and valuable prizes: language courses”, emphasized Plamena Halacheva, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia, at the opening ceremony of this year’s event.
“Linguistic diversity is a precious part of our cultural heritage, which strengthens our appreciation of differences and underlines the strength that diversity has,” said Claus Neukirch, Director of Program Coordination at the Council of Europe.
At the entrance, students received a “language passport” and a bag, and by solving games and quizzes at different tables, they could collect stamps in their passports and win great prizes in raffles provided by various cultural institutes and embassies.
Mila Ćipović Gligorić, Assistant Minister for European Integration, emphasized that the European Union rests on multilingualism and that the languages of each EU member are equal.
“Citizens of the European Union, in addition to their mother tongue, speak at least two other official languages of the EU, and a lot is invested in the education system and language learning projects,” said Ćipović Gligorić.
“Language learning is the wealth of every individual as well as the right of every individual. In addition to trying to ensure quality language learning in primary and secondary schools, we also try to preserve our language, of course”, said Dr Aleksandar Jović, Assistant Minister for International Cooperation and European Integration in the Ministry of Education, expressing his satisfaction with the number of participants in the event.
“EUNIC Serbia, the network of cultural embassies and institutes in Serbia, is the main coordinator of the event, in cooperation with the Council of Europe. The aim of the event is to show our differences and to show how colourful languages are in the whole of Europe, to bring children together, as well as other participants, and for everyone to enjoy the event together”, said Lucie Orbok from the Czech Cultural Centre.
“The Children’s Cultural Centre has the honour of being one of the organizers and a local partner in the organization of the European Day of Languages”, said Ružica Ćuković from the Children’s Cultural Centre.
Part of the event was dedicated to Duško Radović, who compiled the “Dictionary of Friendship”, choosing fifteen of the most beautiful words for children, which, as he said, connect all the children of Europe and the world: child, bread, game, book, love, mother, peace, father, song, friend, bird, joy, freedom, sun and Europe. The children chose in which of the three language they wanted to learn the words with the help of associations, games, musical instruments, movements and pantomime.
The participants of this year’s event were the Embassy of Finland, Embassy of Slovenia, Embassy of Sweden, Embassy of Romania, Embassy of Portugal, Embassy of Ukraine, Embassy of Belgium, Embassy of the Netherlands, Czech Centre, Embassy of Poland, Collegium Hungaricum, Italian Cultural Institute, French Institute, Yunus Emre Institute, Cervantes, British Council, Hellenic Foundation for culture, Goethe Institute, Delegation of the European Union in Serbia, Council of Europe, Ministry of European Integration, Children’s Cultural Centre Belgrade, City Organization of the Deaf in Belgrade and the European Roma Institute for Art and Culture.
The European Day of Languages (EDL) was first celebrated in 2001 during the European Year of Languages. At the end of this campaign, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to make EDL an annual event, which is celebrated every September 26. Every year, millions of people in the member states of the Council of Europe and elsewhere organize or participate in activities to promote linguistic diversity and the ability to speak other languages.
