Escola Básica e Secundária de Muralhas do Minho, Valença

European Day
of Languages

September 26
 Escola Básica e Secundária de Muralhas do Minho, Valença

What is the European

Day of Languages (EDL)?
A day to encourage language
learning across Europe.
At the initiative of the Council
of Europe, Strasbourg, the
European Day of Languages
has been celebrated every
year since 2001 on 26
September.
 Escola Básica e Secundária de Muralhas do Minho, Valença

Did you know that...?

 There are between 6000 and 7000 languages
in the world with about 225 indigenous
languages in Europe.
 Most of the world’s languages are spoken in
Asia and Africa.
 At least half of the world’s population are
bilingual or plurilingual, i.e. they speak or
understand two or more languages.
 Bilingualism makes the learning of additional
languages easier and enhances the thinking
process.
 Escola Básica e Secundária de Muralhas do Minho, Valença
10 THINGS
YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT EUROPE’S LANGUAGES
It is believed that about
70,000 YEARS AGO
a change happened in the
human brain that allowed
humans to suddenly
develop complex language
and thoughts about things
that are not immediately
visible. This led to the ability
to develop ideas, plans,
beliefs and bigger concepts
and being able to express
these with language.
RUSSIAN
was the first language
spoken in outer space.
MANX
is a Celtic language closely
related to Irish spoken only
on the Isle of Man.
ITALIAN
didn’t ‘officially’ become
the official language of Italy
until 2007! It is based on the
Florentine dialect, with most
regions in Italy speaking their
own dialects/languages
(around 30 in total).
More than
200 FAKE LANGUAGES
have been created for
literature and cinema (such
as Elvish in Lord of the Rings
and Klingon in Star Trek).
EUROPEAN CITIES
are the perfect place to
observe multilingual
diversity. In London, for
example, more than 300
languages are spoken!
 Escola Básica e Secundária de Muralhas do Minho, Valença
FRENCH
was the official language of
England for over 300 years,
between the Norman
victory at the Battle of
Hastings, in1066, and the
end of the 14th century.
FIRST LANGUAGE IN
PRINT
The first language to be
printed was German.
Johannes Gutenberg’s
printing press, developed
around 1440, is credited as
being a game changer in
increasing the levels of
literacy and education of
people in Europe.
Illustrator: Eda Kaban
TEA
With a few exceptions, there
are really only two ways to
say “tea” in the world. One
is similar to the English term
(“té” in Spanish, “tee” in
Afrikaans,...). The other is a
variation of “cha” (“chay” in
Hindi, “chá” in Portuguese).
Both versions come from
China, but the words that
sound like “cha” mostly
spread across land, along
the Silk Road, while “tea”
spread over the sea with
Dutch traders.
A very strange fact about
the English language:
NOTHING
in the English language
starts with N and ends in G!