Celebrate the European Day of Languages with us!



2024: Languages for Peace

Throughout Europe, 700 million Europeans are represented in the Council of Europe's 46 member states and all are encouraged to discover more languages at any age, as part of or alongside their studies. This stems from the Council of Europe’s conviction that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent. Therefore, the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, promotes plurilingualism in the whole of Europe. 

At the Council of Europe’s initiative, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since 2001 on 26 September - together with the European Commission.
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Activities

 

 Initiative 2024 
Languages for peace

Create a poster illustrating the theme of ‘Languages for Peace'. This can use symbols, quotes and artwork to convey messages of unity and understanding across different languages and actively contribute to the use of languages as a vehicle for reaching across linguistic and cultural divides. Send us a photo or pdf of the poster you produce to be showcased on the EDL website. There will be prizes for the top 5 most creative entries and up to 30 of the posters will proudly be displayed at the premises of the European Centre for Modern Languages!

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Initiative 2024: Languages for peace

Create a poster illustrating the theme of ‘Languages for Peace'. This can use symbols, quotes and artwork to convey messages of unity and understanding across different languages and actively contribute to the use of languages as a vehicle for reaching across linguistic and cultural divides. Send us a photo or pdf of the poster you produce to be showcased on the EDL website. There will be prizes for the top 5 most creative entries and up to 30 of the posters will proudly be displayed at the premises of the European Centre for Modern Languages!

 Initiative 2024 
Most difficult letter/word/phrase to pronounce!

For example, the letter 'Ř' (a ‘raised alveolar non-sonorant trill’!) from Czech is reputed to be one of the most difficult letters to pronounce in the world – except (of course) if you are Czech! Can you come up with something just as difficult to pronounce or even more so – either in your own language or in the one you are learning? If so, send us a short video illustrating this challenging piece of oral dexterity and why it is challenging! We will select a winner of Europe's most difficult utterances to then be featured on the EDL website.

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Initiative: Most difficult letter/word/phrase to pronounce!

For example, the letter 'Ř' (a ‘raised alveolar non-sonorant trill’!) from Czech is reputed to be one of the most difficult letters to pronounce in the world – except (of course) if you are Czech! Can you come up with something just as difficult to pronounce or even more so – either in your own language or in the one you are learning? If so, send us a short video illustrating this challenging piece of oral dexterity and why it is challenging! We will select a winner of Europe's most difficult utterances to then be featured on the EDL website.

Poll: What is the best advice you can give someone starting to learn a language?

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Poll: What is the best advice you can give someone starting to learn a language?

Integrating at least some of the approaches below can help a learner to become better equipped to achieve fluency and also to enjoy their language learning journey! But which ones would you most recommend? Or can you suggest others that are equally or even more important?
(Choose a maximum of 3)
 
Other
 

EDL T-shirt competition


Send us your design/image/graphic and have your layout on the official EDL T-Shirt! Find out more

New in 2024 

New in 2024 

Word of the year

Every year, countries throughout Europe participate in the tradition of selecting a "word of the year." Here are the words from the previous year!

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Word of the year

Every year, countries throughout Europe participate in the tradition of selecting a "word of the year." This practice involves choosing a single word or phrase that reflects the social, cultural, or political trends and events of the year. The word of the year serves as a symbolic representation of the collective consciousness and prevailing themes within a society. It captures the zeitgeist and becomes a reflection of the shared experiences, concerns, and aspirations of the people.

New: Lara’s next journey - through Europe’s Regional and Minority Languages

UPDATED VERSION AVAILABLE SOON - 7 new languages!

Lara sets off on a new language journey - On this chapter of her journey, Lara explores the fascinating world of regional and minority languages and, being inquisitive, she, of course, uncovers many linguistic treasures!

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Language tree poster

Where am I?

You'll be shown 20 random images from all over Europe. Can you find out, where those images where taken? Use your language skills and the virtual magnifying glass to find hints in the picture. Good luck!
Send us your own pictures for this game here!

Send us your own pictures for this game here!

Where am I?

You'll be shown 20 random images from all over Europe. Can you find out, where those images where taken? Use your language skills and the virtual magnifying glass to find hints in the picture. Good luck!

And: Add your own images to the game!

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Bake a cake!

For the 20th anniversary of the European Day of Languages we asked you to send us your best birthday cake recipes. We now have chosen 20 amazing recipes and put them into a colourful booklet.

Celebrate with us by baking one of these truly European birthday cakes!

Download the book

Famous quotes

We are all familiar with quotes from famous personalities in our own languages and cultures - but how many do we know from elsewhere in different languages? Here is a chance to discover the wisdom, truths (or half-truths!), creativity, humour and sometimes downright cynicism from a range of cultures and languages as well as their origins. Do you have a favourite? We would be delighted if you would also contribute some of your own!

Famous quotes

We are all familiar with quotes from famous personalities in our own languages and cultures - but how many do we know from elsewhere in different languages? Here is a chance to discover the wisdom, truths (or half-truths!), creativity, humour and sometimes downright cynicism from a range of cultures and languages as well as their origins. Do you have a favourite? We would be delighted if you would also contribute some of your own!
Quote of the day:

Egalitatea nu există decât în matematică. Equality only exists in mathematics.

By Mihai Eminescu
Said by the famous Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu, considered to be one of the greatest figures in Romanian culture and is frequently quoted.


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The funniest one and only multilingual joke book

In how many languages can you make someone laugh? Following an extremely strict selection process (involving a jury of individuals who aren’t easy to please!) we ‘proudly’ present the results of this 2022 initiative. From the over 700 jokes that were submitted (not all of them publishable!) we have painstakingly whittled this down to the ‘crème de la crème’ of multilingual humour. 

Download

For fans of ‘Christmas cracker’ jokes – this is a must... You are most welcome to continue to submit new and even funnier jokes with a multilingual element for Volume 2...! View page

Myth or fact?

1. My mother tongue is all I need.

Myth   Fact
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2. I’m not bilingual/multilingual. I can only speak one language.

Myth   Fact
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3. Most people in the world use more than one language.

Myth   Fact
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4. English is the only language children need.

Myth   Fact
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5. Children get confused if they learn more than one language at the same time.

Myth   Fact
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6. I can’t help a child to learn or use a language I don’t know (well enough) myself.

Myth   Fact
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7. If learners don’t know the language of schooling, they’ll learn it best by being exposed to that language only - and by using that language only.

Myth   Fact
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8. Continued use of the home language(s) will interfere with children’s learning of the language of schooling.

Myth   Fact
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9. My job is to teach X as a foreign language and not to deal with other languages in my classroom.

Myth   Fact


Which language is it?

We all know this situation: on a bus, in a café, on the street we hear two people talking in a foreign language. And we wonder what language it is. Let's do some training here and next time this happens to you you will easily recognise it!
 
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Questions you never dared to ask about languages

For this year’s European Day of Languages we have produced a series of short video clips focusing on ‘Questions you never dared to ask about languages’ with experts covering a range of backgrounds and specialisations responding.
As the title suggests, the questions are ones that we might not wish to ask in front of an audience but, in fact, highlight important issues and address some popular misconceptions about languages and language learning. Do you have a question you would like to ask an expert?

To see subtitles on the videos, please activate this feature by clicking on ‘subtitles’ in the YouTube menu below the video. To change languages, click on the gear wheel and select subtitles>’automatically translate’ and select the desired language (the machine translation is provided by YouTube).

Questions you never dared to ask about languages

For this year’s European Day of Languages we have produced a series of short video clips focusing on ‘Questions you never dared to ask about languages’ with experts covering a range of backgrounds and specialisations responding.

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The EDL language challenges

  
The 51 challenges contained within the handbook encourage learners to go a little outside their comfort zone and take advantage of the plentiful opportunities available to practice or learn more about a language beyond a classroom context. Find out more

You can learn languages, too!


Download the brochure!

Are you a language detective?

Can you recognise all the languages being displayed in the game?

Are you a language detective?

Can you recognise all the languages being displayed in the game?

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Brain game: Greek alphabet

How fast can you complete this challenge?



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The secret agent’s language challenges app  2023 

The app has been updated with a new ‘language detective’ challenge in 2023. Can you succeed where others have stumbled? The app has been updated with a new ‘language detective’ challenge in 2023. Can you succeed where others have stumbled?

The secret agent’s language challenges app  2023 

The challenges and quizzes contained within this app encourage learners – future international agents – to take advantage of the plentiful opportunities available to practice or learn more about a language beyond a classroom context. By passing through a series of levels you can rise from a lowly agent in training to become a master secret agent.
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Newest Events

26/9/2024 - 26/7/2024
GB
Beechwood Primary School
24/9/2024 - 27/9/2024
AT
La pomarancia Bad Vöslau
22/9/2024 - 29/9/2024
FR
Ecole des Marronniers
2/10/2024 -
IT
Aula Magna Scuola di Scienze Umanistiche - Università di Genova
3/9/2024 - 26/9/2024
FR
Collège

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20 ideas for this year's European Day of Languages

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20 ideas for this year's European Day of Languages

Struggling to find ideas for an event for this year’s European Day of Languages? It can be challenging to organise events that are fun, inclusive, have an educational element and motivate a large number of people. Below are a few ideas to get your creative thoughts flowing, most of which are based on the principle of “starting small to go big”! 20 ideas for activities that can be carried in celebration of this year's EDL.

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Statistics for 2024 

55
events

14
countries

10232
participants

 

 More...

ICT language tool of the week

eTwinning (A community for schools in Europe )

eTwinning is an online platform for staff working in schools in different European countries. It aims to be an online community for collaborating, communicating and building projects together, such a... view details

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Did you know that...

The European Day of Languages is being supported and coordinated by the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe? The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. It comprises 46 member states, including all members of the European Union.


 

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Self-evaluate your language skills

The 'Self-evaluate your language skills' tool helps you to assess your level of proficiency in the languages you know according to six reference levels described in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Start now!