Throughout Europe, 800 million Europeans are represented in the Council of Europe’s 47 member states and they are all encouraged to discover more languages. The Council of Europe believes that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of the European continent. Therefore, the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, aims to promote multilingualism throughout Europe.
One of the Council’s initiatives is the European Day of Languages which has been celebrated every year since 2001 on the 26th of September.
The European Year of Languages in 2001 was jointly organised by the Council of Europe and the European Union. It was a highly successful event which involved millions of people across 45 participating countries. The European Year of Languages included many activities which all celebrated linguistic diversity in Europe and promoted language learning.
As the European Year of Languages was such a success, the Council of Europe declared a European Day of Languages to be celebrated on 26th of September each year. The general objectives of the European Day of Languages are:
The Council of Europe hopes this Day is celebrated both by authorities in its member states and potential partners at the following levels:
Everyone can get involved in the European Day of Languages in some way! Whether as an individual or in a group, within an organisation or just among friends, people of all ages can get involved. To celebrate EDL you could start to learn a new language. There are plenty of online resources that can be helpful with languages learning such as YouTube videos and Apps. You could also choose to learn more about European culture and traditions to increase your cultural awareness and there are lots of online games and quizzes which will give you a taste of the different cultures throughout Europe.
To see how the European Day of Languages is being celebrated around the world, head over to the EDL website to see events taking places in lots of different countries! https://edl.ecml.at/Events/EventsDatabase/tabid/1772/language/en-GB/Default.aspx