European Day of Languages
What's it about?
The European Day of Languages is a yearly event held on 26 September. It celebrates the linguistic diversity of a continent with
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over 200 European languages,
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24 official EU languages,
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about 60 regional/minority languages,
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and many more spoken by people from other parts of the world.
Why celebrate this day?
It's a chance to:
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raise awareness of the wide variety of languages in Europe,
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promote cultural & linguistic diversity,
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encourage people of all ages to learn languages - knowing more than one makes it easier to find a job and helps businesses grow.
What's happening?
Language classes, games, talks, conferences, radio shows … you name it, and it'll be happening somewhere in Europe — whether on the day itself or in the weeks before and after 26 September.
National organisations, EU institutions and the Council of Europe work together to create a varied programme for every age group.
More information on the 2014 event can be found:
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in the list of events organised by the European Commission(324 kB) ,
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on the website of the European Day of Languages , which contains more events organised by various organisations.
Who's behind it?
The European Day of Languages was declared by the Council of Europe , which represents 800 million Europeans from 47 countries. Many language and cultural institutes, associations, universities and, in particular, schools take part. Held for the first time in 2001 — European Year of Languages — the Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since then.