Stephanie English |
Découvrez la joie d’apprendre une langue étrangère! ¡Descubran el placer de aprender un idioma extranjero!
I frequently hear adults say how much they regret that they never learned to speak a foreign language; in fact, eighty-one percent will confirm this. Arguably, it’s never too late, however, it is obviously much easier for children to learn languages. The European Day of Languages, celebrated on 26 September, is a wonderful opportunity to inspire young people to learn another language!
This day celebrates the linguistic diversity of the continent and was declared by the Council of Europe, which represents 800 million Europeans from 47 countries. Many language and cultural institutes, universities and, in particular, schools take part. Held for the first time in 2001, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated annually ever since.
This year in our school, we will be celebrating the variety of European cultures with lots of fun filled festivities:
- First years can take part in the annual European quiz,
- Second years can enjoy ‘el baile flamenco’ by dance company Alba Flamenca and
- Some lucky third years can engross themselves in fascinating French cinema.
There will also be a delicious little taste of France with pain au chocolat and croissants served at the morning interval – unmissable!
Therefore, this day is very important in encouraging all students to take an interest in other languages. Of course English is a global language which has ultimately contributed to our ‘deplorable monolingualism‘. Let’s get rid of the lazy, fabricated view that ‘everybody else speaks English’ and avoid the embarrassment of being unable to ask for directions to the Eiffel tower. We can make our school into one that is multilingual, embracing the many cultures of the world! Ensure that we do not become another penitent generation, wishing we could speak another language.
