Here is the agenda for this year:
The European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML)of the Council of Europe, a 'Centre to promote quality language education in Europe', has set up a dedicated European Day of Languages website, available in 42 languages, offering a wide range of facts and figures, activities and events which highlight the importance of linguistic and cultural diversity, language learning and translation.
As in previous years, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) launched at the beginning of September a social media campaign consisting of daily posts presenting a quote or proverb in one of the 24 official EU languages. This time the focus is on young people, as 2022 is the European Year of Youth. On 26 September, DGT will release a multilingual poster featuring all 24 quotes and proverbs.
To celebrate linguistic diversity across the continent, the Commission’s field officers in the Member States will be holding over 70 public events in September and October, in cooperation with the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), the Commission Representations and other local partners. These events will include interactive workshops, seminars, online quizzes, radio contests, videos, book exhibitions, multilingual book readings, festivals, games, mini language courses and lectures.
The main event organised by the European Commission (DG EAC in cooperation with DGT) entitled ‘Language competences at the service of youth’ will take place online on 26 September from 12:00 to 14:00. The conference will focus on three themes: multilingual classrooms; languages and how they influence the life of young people; and support provided to Ukrainian displaced children and their families in an effort to integrate them into national education systems, particularly as regards language aspects. More information is available on the event page.
To mark Multilingualism Day, the European Parliament will organise online workshops starting on 23 September and will open its doors in Brussels on 24 September for talks with translators and interpreters, language games, and guided tours to the Hemicycle and House of European History, highlighting how languages have shaped Europe’s diversity.
On the occasion of the European Day of Languages, we would like to draw attention to the fact that the United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the period 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to raise awareness on the risk of disappearance of many indigenous languages across the five continents and to promote their preservation.
Let's celebrate multilingualism together, because knowing languages opens up our world, fosters intercultural understanding and creates opportunities!