European Day of Languages 2014

“Learning languages is fun” seemed to capture the spirit of this year’s European Day of Languages. This is the title of an activity organised by Koluszki primary school in Poland which was voted this year’s most innovative EDL event (receiving over 1 200 votes). It is just one of around 640 events which were submitted to the European Day of Languages calendar of activities.

With 97 different events featuring in the calendar, France was the most popular country for EDL in 2014. Whether it was language taster sessions and games organised with pupils, teachers and parents, videoconferences between classes in different countries, speak-dating events, language fairs, storytelling, flashmobs or conferences examining the importance of language learning – there was a huge variety of events with something for everyone interested in languages.

The level of interest was also reflected by the numbers of visitors going to the EDL website – with over 1.1 million page views recorded in September. With the addition of Danish and Bulgarian this year, the website is now available in 28 languages. New features on the site which have proved popular are a game on sign languages, as well as language trivia focusing on some of the amusing, the strange and the unique aspects of 41 of Europe’s languages – suggestions for new trivia and all other ideas which prove that learning languages really is fun are very welcome. edl.ecml.at

This year the Council of Europe was involved in a number of events taking place in celebration of the Day:

Language Festival on the island in the River Mur

Together with the Graz Language Nework the European Centre for Modern Languages was involved in organising a language festival on the island in the River Mur, Graz, Austria, for all age groups.

Video (3:30 min.) : English - German
Photo gallery 1 – 2

European Commission’s “Why languages matter” conference

The Council of Europe was represented at the European Commission’s European Day of Languages conference “Why languages matter: European and national perspectives on multilingualism”. The event took place on 25-26 September in Florence under the auspices of the Italian Presidency of the EU. It focused in particular on policy initiatives, mobility, the European dimension of language competence development, innovation and technology in language teaching and employment in the language industry. The conference was followed by the European Federation of National Institutions for Language’s (EFNIL) annual conference on 27-28 September.

European Day of Languages Photo Contest 2014

The winners of the “Language learning in action” contest are:

Nr 1: Under the birch
Photo by Mirna Bajsić
695 votes

Nr 2: 2 cool 4just sitting
Photo by Antonio Valić
481 votes

Nr 3: Deutsch macht Spass
Photo by Małgorzata Grzegorzek-Kluczniok
142 votes 

The contest was intended to illustrate language learning in action in different environments. The competition was open until 15 December to persons of all ages living in Council of Europe member states and observer states. The European Centre for Modern Languages will use the best photos for promotional purposes with the top three winners receiving prizes from the Council of Europe. A big THANK YOU to all participants and voters!

Photo contest gallery on Facebook (51 photos)

“Quality Education in Romani” (QualiRom)

As of 2015 the European Centre for Modern Languages will offer a new training and consultancy activity to member states entitled “Quality Education in Romani” (QualiRom, http://qualirom.uni-graz.at). Training and consultancy activities are intended to respond in a targeted and bilateral way to the needs of ECML member states requesting support for developments in language education.

The QualiRom training and consultancy activity offers to provide 2-day training workshops/ consultancies in member states in 2015-2016 according to local needs: This takes the form of a range of possible service targeting different groups: The ultimate aim of the activity is to contribute at all levels of education systems to the integration of Roma pupils.

Requests for a training and consultancy activity should be submitted via the national ECML representative in the Governing Board. Educational professionals interested in a particular activity should therefore contact their national representative (see govboard.ecml.at).

Language education: news from our member states and our partners

Austria

Austrian Centre for Language Competence (ÖSZ), Sprachbox 2/2014, November 2014. [German]

France

CIEP (Centre international d’études pédagogiques), Bibliography on Languages and Employability focusing on language economics and corporate language practice, September 2014, 24 pages. [French]

Switzerland

Pochon, E. & Lenz, P. (2014). Language requirements and language testing for immigration and integration purposes. A synthesis of academic literature
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