It's the European Day of Languages!

Posted: Thu, Sep 26, 2019 1:39 PM

Today is the European Day of Languages, a day organised by the Council of Europe and the European Union in the hope of encouraging language learning across Europe. 

It’s a fantastic event as thousands of people across Europe will recognise, explore and celebrate the diversity of the continent and in particular, the huge number of languages spoken across it!  

Did you know that despite there only being 24 official languages within Europe, there are thought to be almost 225 spoken - and that’s just 3% of the world’s total?!

At Lingotot, we believe the European Day of Languages promotes an important message and we have been keen to support this with our programme. Throughout the UK and Ireland, we have partnered with schools, nurseries, home educators and families to educate and entertain children in the joy of language learning! 

Rebekka Westwood, owner of Lingotot Wakefield, organised a huge regional celebration, inviting schools from across Wakefield to send children to participate in a morning of crafts, songs, games and stories - all in a foreign language! Rebekka says: “The event was a huge success and I’m feeling pretty emotional about how encouraging, supportive and enthused all of the schools were. We all had a lot of fun - especially during the 50 children boogie woogie!”

Did you know that more than half of Europeans are bilingual?

Vicky Gough, of the British Council, has said: “We need to give our young people more opportunities to learn about and engage with different cultures.”

Angela Sterling, Founder of Lingotot, says: “We are absolutely delighted with the success of the events we have been running across the country including assemblies, tasters, themed lessons and of course, Rebekka’s fantastic school event in Wakefield! Language learning is so much more than being able to order an ice cream when you’re abroad. It opens the door to new cultures, new understanding and new opportunities and our children deserve the opportunity to experience that within their education. I hope the publicity surrounding the day and the activities we have rolled out across the country reinforce that.” 

For some fun and surprising language facts, courtesy of the official European Day of Languages website, please click here :-) 


Comments

  • No comments yet

Customer Reviews