Celebrate the European Day of Languages with us!



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.
aze bul bos cat ces cym dan deu ell eng spa est eus fin fra fry gla glg hrv hun hye ita kat ltz lit lav mne mkd mlt nld nor pol por ron rus slk slv sqi srp swe tur ukr

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!

 New  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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Multilingual tongue twister challenge

How many tongue twisters, in at least 3 different languages, can you manage in one minute? Tongue twisters are tricky in one language, not to mention in 3 or more. These are not for the faint-hearted! You can prove just how good you are by submitting a video either individually or with friend. We have already received over 150 submissions. Some are indeed very good. Check them out below!

 Initiative 
Multilingual tongue twister challenge

How many tongue twisters, in at least 3 different languages, can you manage in one minute? Tongue twisters are tricky in one language, not to mention in 3 or more. These are not for the faint-hearted! You can prove just how good you are by submitting a video either individually or with friend. We have already received over 150 submissions. Some are indeed very good. Check them out below!

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The great multilingual joke book (or Make me laugh!)

In how many languages can you make someone laugh? A sense of humour and what someone finds amusing are often considered to be influenced by the language/s they speak and their cultural background. In order to test out whether this is really the case, and during a time where there has not been much to laugh about, we are inviting you to send us your best jokes. The jokes can be in your own language/s or a language you are learning - the most important thing is that they are funny! They can of course be related to language/ adaptable to different languages but the primary criteria is that they are amusing!

Submit your favourite joke! If your joke makes it past a very strict jury (comprised of individuals who don’t laugh much!) your joke may be selected to feature in the ‘greatest ever (or perhaps only!) multilingual joke book’ to be published after the EDL.

 Initiative 
The great multilingual joke book (or Make me laugh!)

In how many languages can you make someone laugh? Submit your favourite joke! If your joke makes it past a very strict jury (comprised of individuals who don’t laugh much!) your joke may be selected to feature in the ‘greatest ever (or perhaps only!) multilingual joke book’ to be published after the EDL.

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Lara's language journey across Europe

Including language tree poster!

Including sound files!
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EDL T-shirt contest winner 2023 

The winner of the 2023 EDL T-shirt contest is Alžbeta Šáleková –Slovenská Republika. Congratulations!

"When creating the design, I wanted to express the idea of the competition in a simple and clear way. I chose human natural means of communication as the main components. They are depicted by one interconnected variable line. It symbolically materializes the words leading from mouth to ear, at the same time thus representing a mutual conversation. The variability of the shapes used points to the diversity of languages, information, themes, and cultures, which enriches and develops them."

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 2023  

New in 2023  

Statement from Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, on the occasion of the European Day of Languages 2022 .
"The European Day of Languages is a celebration of the rich tapestry of languages which make our continent so special. Linguistic diversity is our cultural heritage. It helps us appreciate difference and helps us understand that diversity is our strength. Let us value all languages in Europe."

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

You can learn languages, too!


Download the brochure!

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:

Tvrd je orah voćka čudnovata, ne slomi ga, al’ zube polomi. A hard nut is a strange fruit, you won't break it, but you'll break your teeth.

By Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
This is a line from his epic poem "The Mountain Wreath" and is part of a reply to a vizier Selim who requested unconditional surrender from "tiny" Montenegro which he insulted for being small. The response is saying that although Montenegro is tiny, it will be a tough nut to crack if Ottomans try to conquer it. Nowadays, it means one should not underestimate others, no matter how small/weak they seem.


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The secret agent’s language challenges app  2022 

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. You can compete with friends in achieving challenges, identifying countries and languages and completing quizzes. The challenges go from the easy, such as, “count from 1-10 in 3 different languages within one minute” to ones that are a bit more demanding, “together with a friend, write the words to a song/rap in a foreign language."

The secret agent’s language challenges app  2022 

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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bos bul cat ces cnr dan deu ell eng est fin fra gla hrv hun ita lav lit mkd mlt nld pol por ron rus slk slv spa srp swe ukr

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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The EDL handbook of 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

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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Why learn a language?

Poll: Why learn a language?

Which of following factors would motivate you most to learn a new language (choose a maximum of 3)? If it was none of these – let us know your suggestions!

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Poll: Why learn a language?

Which of following factors would motivate you most to learn a new language (choose a maximum of 3)? If it was none of these – let us know your suggestions!
 
Other
 

Newest Events

3/2/2023 -
GB
Chandlings Prep School
26/9/2023 - 26/9/2023
AT
GTVS Ottakring

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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 2022 

1475
events

45
countries

432334
participants

 

 More...

Myth or fact?

1. My mother tongue is all I need.

Myth   Fact
Skip

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

Myth   Fact
Skip

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

Myth   Fact
Skip

4. English is the only language children need.

Myth   Fact
Skip

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

Myth   Fact
Skip

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

Myth   Fact
Skip

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
Skip

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

Myth   Fact
Skip

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

Myth   Fact


ICT language tool of the week

diigo (Social bookmarking tool; allows annotation of webpages)

A widely used social bookmarking site. You can create your own group/community to share your bookmarked links with. Other members can comment on the links very easily. Allows highlighting and annotati... 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!