{"id":700,"date":"2021-09-24T09:15:32","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T08:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/?p=700"},"modified":"2021-12-14T13:40:24","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T13:40:24","slug":"european-day-of-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2021\/09\/24\/european-day-of-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"European Day of Languages"},"content":{"rendered":"

To mark the 20th anniversary of the European Day of Languages on 26 September, the Skills Centre's Head of Foreign Languages and Italian national, Isabella Stefanutti, shares some fun facts about European languages and why language-learning is a fantastic skill to develop.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>
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Can you read this?<\/h2>\n

Aoccdrnig to a rceearsh sudty, it deosn\u2019t mttaer\u00a0 in\u00a0 waht\u00a0 oredr\u00a0 the\u00a0 lteters\u00a0 in\u00a0 a\u00a0 wrod\u00a0 are;\u00a0 the\u00a0 olny\u00a0 iprmoatnt\u00a0 fatcor\u00a0 is\u00a0 taht\u00a0 the\u00a0 frist\u00a0 and\u00a0 lsat\u00a0 ltteres\u00a0 are in\u00a0 the\u00a0 rghit\u00a0 pclae.\u00a0 Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t the ability to understand languages great?<\/p>\n

If you're not bilingual yourself, you might be surprised to learn that more than half of Europe is! That\u2019s a lot of people! No wonder that in 2001 the Council of Europe launched an initiative to celebrate the European Day of Languages<\/a> on 26 September each year. This year the initiative is 20 years old.<\/p>\n

Linguistic diversity is a key element in the rich cultural heritage of Europe and being able to speak languages is a great tool for achieving intercultural understanding. It\u2019s also lots of fun and, when you travel, speaking the language of the locals can open many doors, metaphorically and literally!<\/p>\n

Famous polyglots<\/h2>\n

Linguistic and intercultural skills are also very important when applying for a new job and for success in your career. Don\u2019t believe me? Novak Djokovic is passionate about languages and has said that \u2018the more languages you know, the more is your worth as a person\u2019<\/em>. He speaks fluent Serbian, English, French, German, Italian and can get by in various other languages. He is currently ranked as the best tennis player in the world, and is worth a considerable amount, so he is definitely true to his belief!<\/p>\n

(You can find out lots of other celebrity polylinguals, like Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman and Shakira, and the languages they speak, on the EDL website<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

More facts<\/h2>\n

Do you know how many languages are spoken in Europe? There are 47 member states of the Council of Europe... many people are bilingual\u2026 so maybe you're guessing around 50? Well, 50 is way off!<\/p>\n

In fact there are about 225 indigenous European languages, and many more languages are spoken by citizens whose family originates from other continents. (Incidentally, European languages make up only a small percentage of the estimated 6,000-7,000 languages spoken in the world!)<\/p>\n

A few more fun facts about Europe's languages:<\/p>\n