Why is the 26. September a European Day of Languages?
Simply because Europe is multilingual!
There are 28 countries and 24 official languages in European Union. Although United Nations count 44 countries as Europe. In Europe there are about 225 indigenous languages, while also non-European languages are used on European territory (Arabic, Chinese and Hindi …) Due to constant migrations in London alone some 300 languages are spoken!
European Day of Languages reminds us that Europe is an intercultural treasury of languages. Together we are 800 million Europeans, of which at least half of us are bilingual or multilingual. The European Commission encourages multilingualism precisely because of the need for language skills in increasingly intercultural Europe. Multilingualism is also a crucial asset for better business and cultural integration and tolerance for other cultures and customs. The EU Ministers of Formal Education are supporting learning of at least two foreign languages in the childhood. It seems that early language learning will be soon included in general strategy of the European Commission for Early Childhood Education and Education.
MINI POLIGLOTINI multilingual books for children encourage the love for languages from the early childhood. With our books children can learn Slovenian, English, German, Italian, French, Spanish and Russian languages. And with time we will add new languages … The easiest was to bring love for languages closer to children is with fairytales, which are a priceless part of every childhood. Aside from that, there is a rising trend of scientific evidences that prove the benefits of children that learn languages at the early age.
Europe is a polyglot and all children that grow up in Europe should become polyglots as well.
Read 21 interesting facts about languages.