At the initiative of the Council of Europe, the European Day of Languages (EDL) has been celebrated every year, on 26 September since 2001. It represents a call to encourage all European citizens to learn languages and to recognise and appreciate Europe's cultural diversity.

The Council of Europe works closely with the European Commission and national relays in the member states on the coordination of the Day.

Despite the health crisis, there are a host of activities and initiatives taking place in celebration of the Day all over Europe and online this year.

Just a few of the features offered on the dedicated EDL website www.coe.int/edl -  which is available in 39 languages are:

• Take a Language challenge! Both a new app and the Language challenges handbook are available in a wide range of languages. There should be something for everyone - from easy managed challenges to the definitely ‘not so easy’!.
• ‘Why did you decide to learn a language?’ poll. Let us know what first motivated you to take up a new language – was it because of travelling to a new country, liking the sound of a language, or maybe even because you fell in love, or many other reasons? The results of the poll will be announced on Friday 25 September.
• The ‘Which language is it?’ game tests your ability to identify individual languages through listening to conversations in an everyday setting!

The site also provides details of events taking place in celebration of the Day, as well as a wide variety of resources and activities for everyone interested in languages and language learning.

So, why not join us in celebrating the European Day of Languages this year?