Throughout Europe, around 800 million citizens of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe are encouraged to learn more languages, at any age, in and out of school. The 2001 was declared The European Year of Languages by the Council of Europe and European Union that jointly organised activities celebrating linguistic diversity in Europe. They successfully involved millions of people across 45 participating countries. Following the success of the Year of Languages 26th of September was declared a European Day of Languages. In Europe there are over 200 languages in daily use so well developed language skills became almost a necessity and are a right for everyone. They allow people to take full advantage of opportunities offered by modern society. Learning languages helps us to understand each other better and overcome our cultural differences.
Did you know that…
– there are between 6000 and 7000 languages in the world – spoken by 7 billion people divided into 189 independent states
– most of the world's languages are spoken in Asia and Africa
– at least half of the world's population are bilingual or plurilingual (they speak two or more languages)
– bilingualism has many benefits: it makes the learning of additional language easier, enhances the thinking process and fosters contacts with other people and their cultures
– the non-European languages most widely used on European territory are Arabic, Chinese and Hindi, each with its own writing system
– Russia (148 million inhabitants) has by far the highest number of languages spoken on its territory: from 130 to 200 depending on criteria
– in London alone, about 300 languages are spoken
Now that we know a bit more about why knowing languages is so important and how it can help us in everyday life, let us celebrate this great day by joining us in our language café (the school library) and taking part in the language quiz.
Antonija Braut (3.5)
(teacher: Jelka Barbalić)