Every year since 2001, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated on September 26 in order to maintain linguistic diversity, bilingualism of every European, and develop the teaching and learning of various languages in the world. It was proclaimed by the Council of Europe with the support of the European Union (EU) during the European Year of Languages (2001).
Indeed, there are now more and more people who speak at least one foreign language fluently. The phenomenon of proficiency in foreign languages has been studied for a long time. Why is it so difficult for some people to find their native language, while others easily perceive several foreign ones at once? Is this the result of hard work or is genetic predisposition sufficient?
Of course, talent is important, just like in any other field. On the other hand, back in the 18th-19th centuries it was fashionable in society to show off knowledge — and no, no, and even to type a word from French, German or Latin. Knowledge of at least one foreign language was considered the norm. «Life-long learning languages» — this motto was proclaimed by UNESCO in the 21st century.
There are a total of 225 autochthonous languages in Europe, but more than half of them are either already extinct or on the verge of extinction as a result of gradual assimilation into a linguistic minority (for example, Irish and other Celtic languages). On the other hand, the linguistic picture of Europe has been significantly enriched since the second half of the 20th century, when, as a result of mass economic and political migration, the speech of many peoples of the world began to be heard in almost all European countries, especially in their capitals.
Today, the European institutions of the European Union officially use 24 languages equally: English, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Greek, Danish, Irish, Spanish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, German, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Finnish, French, Croatian, Czech, Swedish, Estonian.
All decisions made by official bodies of the European Union (EU) are translated into all official languages, and EU citizens have the right to contact EU bodies and receive a response to their requests in any of the official languages. At summit events, measures are being taken to translate participants' speeches into all official languages (if necessary).
Despite the declared equality of all languages of the Union, with the expansion of the EU borders, «European bilingualism » is increasingly observed, when in fact the work of authorities (with the exception of official events) uses mainly English, French and, to a lesser extent, German —, while some other languages are used depending on the situation.
The preservation and development of languages, including small ones, is declared as the official language policy of the European Union. Among the ways to achieve this are usually learning more than one foreign language and continuing to learn languages in adulthood.
The celebration itself is traditionally timed in different countries to coincide with various events — these are conferences, seminars, lectures and open lessons in educational institutions, concerts, exhibitions, etc.
Postcard «26 September — European Day of Languages»