Languages connect us, that was the message from this year’s European Day of Languages, marked at six different locations in Belgrade: Europe House, the Collegium Hungaricum, the French Institute, the Goethe-Institut, the Instituto Cervantes and the Faculty of Philology.
Each student received a “language passport” and could collect stamps by taking part in games, quizzes and activities dedicated to languages. In addition, children and young people had the chance to get a taste of one or more foreign languages through trial classes led by experienced teachers.
The event brought together representatives of 27 countries and organizations, with participants from the Council of Europe, the EU Delegation to Serbia, and the embassies of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.
European Day of Languages is an opportunity to celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe, and children and young people, together with their teachers, got to know more than 20 European languages, including Serbian sign language.
“In Europe we’re known for harmonizing legislation, but we don’t harmonize our cultures, and we certainly don’t harmonize our languages. You can travel just a hundred kilometres or so and pass through three different language zones. We are one mad cacophony of accents and irregular verbs, and we’re very proud of it”, said Julian Vassallo, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia.
Each student received a “language passport” and could collect stamps by taking part in games, quizzes and activities dedicated to languages. In addition, children and young people had the chance to get a taste of one or more foreign languages through trial classes led by experienced teachers.
The event brought together representatives of 27 countries and organizations, with participants from the Council of Europe, the EU Delegation to Serbia, and the embassies of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine. 
