The European day of Languages 2021
The Latvian Language Agency invites everyone to take part in an annual series of events that celebrate linguistic diversity – the European day of Languages. Since 2001, the European Day of Languages is celebrated in the Member States of the European Union on September 26 of e
very year, and the occasion highlights European languages, linguistic diversity, and language learning. These events have been organized and coordinated in Latvia by the Latvian Language Agency for seventeen years. The European Day of Languages is usually very eventful with many events taking place both before and after September 26.
From September 22 to 23, everyone is encouraged to take part in the competition “iESkaties” that can be accessed remotely from the European Union Information Point at the Library of Saldus. The competition is held on the library’s website https://biblioteka.saldus.lv/esip-lapa/.
On Friday, September 24, at 16.00 we will unveil a unique treasure hunting competition on the Latvian Language Agency’s Facebook page titled “My treasure in Latvia”. The competition involves 33 hiding places created by Latvians living in the diaspora. The treasure hunting competition will begin on September 24, and everyone is invited to participate. The competition will run until October 22, and the task is to find as many hiding places as possible. The most successful competitors will receive valuable prizes.
On Sunday, September 26, from 12.00 to 18.00 the House of Languages in Riga, Avotu iela 33, is hosting an Open Doors Day. The attendees will have the option to take express courses in Norwegian and Estonian, take part in a language quiz, or purchase several books published by the House of Languages.
On Sunday, at 16.00, the Institute of the Livonian Language of the University of Latvia will host a live Facebook broadcast – the event “The horror legends of the Livonian people”. The event is an opportunity to get acquainted with the Livonian language, listen to Livonian horror legends in both Livonian and Latvian, and learn about the unusual, interesting, somewhat funny, and scary heroes and events depicted in these stories.
On Sunday, at 18.00, the House of Languages in Riga, Avotu iela 33, will host a Scandinavian book club event – “Skandinavisk bokklubb”. The club members will come together to read one book in a foreign language and discuss it in Scandinavian languages. On Sunday, the participants will discuss the book “Anxiety” (“Uro”) by the Norwegian psychiatrist and writer Finn Skårderud. The book was recently translated and published in Latvian.
On Monday, September 27, the European Union House at 28 Aspazijas bulvāris in Riga will organize several Language Workshops. Each language workshop will make use of songs and colloquial phrases to give the participants an idea of how those languages sound and what the cultures are like in the countries where they are spoken. The participants will learn to speak five sentences and hopefully decide that they might learn some of the languages they’ve discovered. Register for the Language Workshops at https://esmaja.lv: 15.00 Hungarian masterclass (“Sarunu” room), 16.00 German masterclass (the hall), 16.30 Spanish masterclass (“Sarunu” room), 17.30 Italian masterclass (the hall), 18.00 French masterclass (“Sarunu” room).
On Thursday, September 30, at 15.00, the House of the European Union at 28 Aspazijas bulvāris in Riga will host a book launch of the collection of writings “Language in Practice: Observations and Recommendations” No. 16. This 16th edition of the series of popular scientific articles covers a wide range of issues related to various linguistic areas. The book will undoubtedly be useful to both people who are interested in specific linguistic issues and advice and to people who prefer philosophical or historical reflections on the nature and role of language in society. The collection will be available for purchase at the Latvian Language Agency.
On October 13, at 11.50, the Department of Latvian and Baltic Studies of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia at 4a Visvalža iela in Riga will invite everyone to attend the event “Jānis Poruks turns 150: readings of translations of the poem “Tracis””.
The University of Vilnius will host the 8th Baltic Student Conference “Bridges in the Baltics” from October 22 to 23. Students from the Baltic States will meet at this annual conference to make new friends and introduce other students to their academic interests and research. The conference will take place in person and will be available online.
In anticipation of the State Language Day on October 15, the Latvian Language Agency invites everyone to attend the premiere of the film “The Story of the Latvian Language” and to meet with the creative group behind the film at 15.00 at Rainis’ and Aspazija’s house in Riga, Baznicas iela 30. The film will detail the story of how the Latvian language became the official state language of Latvia.
On October 21, at 13.00, The Latvian Language Agency invites everyone to attend the seminar “The Linguistic Situation in Latvia 2016-2020” at the library of the University of Latvia at Kalpaka bulvāris 4 in Riga. This study has analyzed the changes in the overall linguistic situation from 2016 to 2020 by examining the Latvian population’s proficiency in the state and foreign languages and language use in various sociolinguistic fields.
We invite everyone to participate in the campaign “What the Latvian language means to me is…” and to finish the aforementioned statement, by sharing their thoughts and views on the Latvian language until October 15. Visit the website vards.valoda.lv to take part in the campaign.
On September 26, the Latvian Language Agency announces an annual students’ creative work competition whose topic this year is “You are the treasure of Latvia”. We invite students from Latvian schools at home and abroad to send in creative works and drawings on the topic. The competition will run until November 18. We will expect every school to send us their nine best literary works and nine best drawings. As usual, the best creative works are published in books. Fourteen books have already been published in this series.
On the European Day of Languages, we encourage everyone to take part in the events celebrating the occasion, to enrich the proficiency of the languages spoken in Europe, and appreciate and actively use Latvian – our state language – in their everyday lives.
The European Day of Languages is an initiative of the Council of Europe, and its events are organized and coordinated in Latvia by the Latvian Language Agency and its cooperation partners: the European Commission, the European Union House in Riga, the Ministry of Education and Science, the University of Latvia, the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia, the Institute of Livonian Language of the University of Latvia, the Goethe Institute of Riga, the French Institute of Latvia, the University of Vilnius, the Center of Spanish Culture “Seneca”, the Language House, the European Union Information Point of the Library of Saldus.
All events are free. The program may be subject to minor changes. When attending the events, the attendees are expected to comply with all Covid-19 containment regulations. Find more information at www.valoda.lv.
