26 September 2015 will mark the European Day of Languages, when the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth will be launching an action to celebrate this day and the linguistic diversity in schools and childcare facilities in the Grand Duchy.
'Fest vun de Sproochen' is the motto under which all classes of primary education and childcare will be encouraged to showcase the many languages spoken by children during the week of 21 September, as part of the initiative launched by the Council of Europe in 2001 to promote language learning and intercultural understanding in Europe.
A poster and leaflet was sent by the Ministry inviting these classes to design fun activities around the linguistically-rich characteristic of Luxembourg. In this context, it is hoped that it will provide an excellent opportunity to involve the families of children in these activities, whilst getting to know the languages and cultures of the children. The sent brochuere offers an array of possible activities, ranging from one-off actions to long-term projects which all centre around an openness to languages.
With more than 60% of primary school students speaking a language other than Luxembourgish as their mother tongue at home, multilingualism is particularly important in Luxembourg. The Ministry stated that one of its priorities in the coming years would be to adjust multilingualism and to adapt the supply and requirements of languages to the linguistic realities of school populations.
A particular focus will be on the development of language skills from a very young age in early childhoo development structures.
More information and examples of available activities can be found on the Council of Europe's website dedicated to the European Day of Languages here.
Photo by Ministry of Education, Children and Youth
