European Day of Languages

The European Day of Languages goes back to an initiative of the Council of Europe . The aim of the annual day of action on September 26th is to contribute to the appreciation of all languages and cultures , to make people aware of the advantages of language skills, to promote individual multilingualism and to motivate people in Europe to learn languages throughout their lives . The aim is to preserve the rich heritage of the 200 European languages.

Historical background

The day of action was introduced in 2001, the European Year of Languages . This meant that the intensive promotion of multilingualism should continue after that year. Since then, the day has been celebrated annually on September 26th . During the day of action, the Council of Europe and the EU support initiatives, campaigns and events related to language learning. The day is currently used for campaigns in up to 45 countries. These are carried out locally and coordinated by the European Foreign Language Center of the Council of Europe (in cooperation with partner organizations in the individual countries).

The languages in Europe

Within the European Union

Official languages: (alphabetical)
- from 1957, in the Europe of Six: German , French , Italian and Dutch . The Luxembourg is now considered semi-official language.
- from 1973, in the Europe of the Nine: the previous 4 + Danish and English . Irish has only been the new official language since 2007 ( contract language since 1973).
- from 1981, in the Europe of Ten: the previous 6 + Greek
- from 1986, in the Europe of the Twelve: the previous 7 + Portuguese and Spanish . This means the Castilian ; the Catalan is considered semi-official language.
- from 1995, in the Europe of Fifteen: the previous 9 + Finnish and Swedish
- from 2004, in the Europe of twenty-five: the previous 11 + Estonian , Latvian , Lithuanian , Maltese , Polish , Slovak , Slovenian , Czech and Hungarian
- from 2007, in the Europe of Twenty-seven: the previous 20 + Bulgarian , Irish and Romanian
- from 2013, in Europe of Twenty-eight: the previous 23 + Croatian
Semi-official languages: Basque , Galician , Catalan, Luxembourgish, Scottish Gaelic , Welsh
No official languages: Breton , Frisian , Kashubian , Sardinian , Sorbian and others.