The mosaic of words ” “

Some 7,000 languages are spoken by the over six billion inhabitants of our planet; two of them, English and Chinese, represent the means of expression of hundreds of millions of people, but most languages are spoken only by a few thousand, or even in some cases just a few hundred people. In Europe there are 225 “indigenous” languages, 3% of the world total. The diversity of languages and cultures is increasingly considered a value, since, according to the Council of Europe, “each language has its own way of seeing the world and is the product of its particular history”. So it’s a diversity that needs to be encouraged and supported, together with the teaching of languages. To this end, during the European Year of languages in 2001, the Council of Europe proclaimed 26 September the “European Day of Languages”. THE RICHNESS OF DIVERSITY. Celebrated annually since 2001, the Day has become an occasion to organize activities and events linked to languages throughout Europe. European Day of Languages in 2004 has as its theme “Celebrating linguistic diversity, multilingual skills, and the ongoing learning of languages”. Its objective, says a statement put out by the Council of Europe, is to “raise public awareness about the importance of language skills by promoting the differentiation of the languages studied”, emphasize “the value of all the languages spoken in Europe by promoting the richness of their diversity”, and “encourage ongoing language learning, i.e. throughout life”, in response “to economic, social and cultural changes”, and “as a factor of personal growth”. THE EUROPEAN “MOSAIC”. Russian, German, English, French and Italian are the most commonly used languages in our continent, but the Council of Europe recalls that in many countries there are minority or “local” languages: in the Russian Federation alone “their number varies from 130 to 200 depending on the criteria of classification”. Basque, Catalan and Galician (Spain), Gaelic (UK), Frisian (Netherlands) and some regional languages of Scandinavia, continues the statement, “have obtained official recognition”. Two international conventions aimed at safeguarding minority language rights have been active since 1998: the “European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages” and the “Convention for the Protection of National Minorities”. LANGUAGE DAY 2004. The European Day, which this year falls on a Sunday, will be celebrated in schools, on the workplace and in public venues in the 45 member states of the Council of Europe, as every year in complete independence. In some countries 26 September will be the final day of the “European Week of Languages”, now in progress. People of all ages will be involved in conferences, meetings, debates, exhibitions, plays and concerts. Over 600 events were organized in 40 countries during last year’s Day. In Albania, for example, the exhibition “We and Europe” opened on 20 September (it will run till Sunday 26) in the schools of various regions, while a folk concert at which artists from various European countries will perform is due to be held in Tirana on 26 September. A “Pizza Festival” will take place at Villach ( Austria) on 24 September. The history of pizza, its ingredients, recipes, personal creations and last but not least “pizza for everyone”: the use of the Italian language is obligatory. A competition of “bilingual” writing, involving a text to be composed in two linguistic versions (of the candidate’s own choice), is the proposal of the Green Turtle publishing house in Nice ( France). Duration: from 26 September 2004 to 26 September 2005. In England children aged from 7 to 13 are invited to a “ Talent S how” to be held in the secondary school of Sandbach (in Cheshire) on 26 September to demonstrate their ability to speak a European language other than English, to cook a regional dish of another country, or to shoot a short film in French or Spanish. In Solingen ( Germany), a surprising invitation has been made to the public to familiarise themselves with the ancient Gaelic language of Ireland as a “living and really spoken language” through introductory lessons and a short theatrical performance. Learning French, English, German and Russian through proverbs: that’s what is proposed by the Dzukija Altyus school ( Lithuania) in a project aimed both at children and adults (23-28 September), while in Poland, Cyril and Methodius, co-patrons of Europe, will be discussed in the original Slav language and in various modern languages at the “Scholasticus” secondary school in Lódz (28 September). The programme devised at Merano, in the province of Bolzano ( Italy), is aimed at children between the ages of 5 and 11: performances by clowns, animated cartoons and video games in various languages to enable them to get to know Europe and its languages.