Blog

The European Day of Languages is celebrated annually on the 26th September. Officially, there are 24 different languages spoken in Europe, but if you add in regional and minority languages, that number shoots up to over 200!

EDOL has been celebrated since 2001, and aims to:

• Raise awareness of the wide variety of languages in Europe
• Promote cultural heritage & linguistic diversity
• Encourage people of all ages to learn languages
• Promote translation, interpretation, other language-related professions.

Here are 5 activities you can do to celebrate the European day of Languages!

1) Fancy Dress

Dressing up as the representation of a country or language is a great way to get kids involved in celebrations like the European Day of Languages! You could organise a draw in your classroom (to make sure that all the countries are represented – otherwise you might end up with a whole class of berets and stripey shirts)

Encourage the children to be creative – for example, to represent Italy you could dress as a pizza, or you could dress in the colours of the Italian flag, or you could even come as a famous Italian monument like the leaning tower of Pisa!

2) Learn a song

What if your favourite song was in a different language? Would it sound very different?

Use the Internet to find the lyrics to your favourite song and translate them to a European language. Does it sound different when you sing it out loud? If it rhymed before, does it still rhyme now?

Alternatively, see if you can find popular songs in a European Language and translate the lyrics to English.

3) Play sports

Get outside and play some traditional games and sports from around Europe! Here are a few to research and try out:

• Pentanque (France)
• Lippa (Italy)
• Square (Romania)
• Dodgeball (Poland)
• Basque bowls (Spain)

4) Taste some food from different countries

Get your tastebuds involved and try out some snacks from different countries all around Europe. You could try Swiss cheese, Belgian chocolate, French croissants, and Italian mozzarella, as well as plenty others!

Make a list of all the food you’ve tried and tick what you liked and what you didn’t.

5) Make a poster

The main initiative for the European Day of Languages 2024 is the theme of ‘languages for peace’. EDOL have officially called for posters which illustrate this theme, asking for posters which 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.

There are prizes up for grabs if you enter!

Find out more here.