The knowledge of languages as a "system to meet other people, populations and cultures", as a "way to know Europe", as "a professional opportunity, to enter a continental, no longer national, employment market". In the run-up to the European Day of Languages, planned for September 26th, the EU Commission has organised a meeting in Brussels with the translators and interpreters who work for the EU and the accredited press. It produced suggestions to understand the reasons for multilingualism, the relevant opportunities and problems; for translators, who explained how many languages they speak and what the fastest learning methods are, "foreign languages must not be experienced as an obstacle but rather as an effective opportunity". Leonard Orban, commissioner for multilingualism, explained that, with the "Day of Languages", the EU reasserts its will to strengthen European unity" and extend "intercultural bonds between our countries". On Friday September 26th the schedule includes the "General states of multilingualism" in Paris, a conference on translations in Brussels and a "Festival of Languages" in Saint-Josse, a district of Brussels where people of different nationalities and languages live.
