The European day of Languages 2020

European Language Day is an initiative launched by the Council of Europe. Latvian Language Agency has been responsible for carrying out events in Latvia under this initiative for already sixteen years. Events are planned and completed in close collaboration with local partner organisations. European Language Day is usually marked in September 26th, however there are a wide variety of events happening also before and after this exact date. This year European Language Day events in Latvia will be held between September 21th and October 17th. We invite everyone in Latvia and abroad to join us in enriching the experience of learning and using the languages spoken in Europe, while simultaneously appreciating and using our national language – Latvian – in their everyday affairs.

Events include lectures, exhibitions, classes, and more. Most events will be held in Latvian with elements of the language in focus, but some will also be held in other languages.

September 22 at 17:30, the EU house (Aspazijas bulvāris 8) will host an Italian language evening with focus on Italian cinema.

Morning of September 23, the most Latvian word will be sought in Bastejkalns and National Library. At 17:30 the Goethe Institute hosts a German language evening, whereas at 19:00, the Language House at Avotu Street 22 invites to Estonian language club Tere!

September 24, at 13:00 the LU Faculty of Humanities (Visvalža Street 4a) will have a lecture on Old English elements in modern-day texts and films. According to the organizers, the lecture will be in either English or Latvian depending on audience.

Also September 24, 16:00 Zirgu Street 1 will have a Latvian-Italian-German event discussing Italian culture from Latvian and German viewpoint, At 17:30, the Swiss Embassy at the EU house will have a multi-lingual evening: discussion about multiple official state languages.

September 25, at the EU house, a Spanish evening will take place starting 17:30.

September 27 at 18:00, Avotu Street 33, Scandinavian book club will have a discussion on Åsne Seierstad’s Bokhandleren i Kabul.

September 28, European Commission will hold an online conference European Day of Languages 2022.

September 29 at 16:00, Georgian Embassy will hold an exhibition on the Georgian alphabet at LU Library (Kalpaka bulvāris 4).

October 7 at LU Faculty of Humanities, a lecture on the Czech language and culture will take place. It will be held in Czech but anyone can attend, even with no knowledge of the language, according to the organizers.

Full program of events is available in Latvian on the Latvian Language Agency website. All events are free of charge.