Language festivals are constantly held in Belgium and Ireland, Luxembourg and France, Finland and Sweden, the USA and Canada, and many other countries. The most grandiose linguafestival, perhaps, takes place in the French city of Tours. Just imagine: 250 mini-courses in 70 languages (20 European, 20 African, including the language of drumbeats)! The language festival came to the territory of the former Soviet Union not so long ago: in 1996 in Cheboksary (Chuvashia) the first linguafestival took place, and last year – the fifth, anniversary year – it already featured 38 languages (about a thousand people took part in the basic program).
KALEIDOSCOPE OF LANGUAGES IN EUROPE
On February 20, the opening of the European Language Study Week 'Kaleidoscope of Languages in Europe' took place at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the European Union, the Representation of the European Commission, and the European Center for Cooperation in Education. The European Language Study Weeks in Kyiv are held as part of the European Year of Languages.
Besides the opportunity to get acquainted with visual materials on stands – books, maps, postcards, booklets – festival visitors had a chance to communicate live with native speakers and, in 15-minute blitz lessons, learn the first words in Swedish, Finnish, Romansh, Dutch, Romanian, Turkish, Greek, Latvian, Estonian, Polish, and Lithuanian, as well as in the international language Esperanto.
The German language was represented by a combined stand of the Goethe-Institut and the embassies of Austria and Switzerland – after all, German is spoken not only in Germany! Quizzes were organized for experts of English and German. The French language was represented by the French cultural center, and Greek – not only by the Greek embassy, but also by the Cypriot consulate.
The next stage of the European Language Study Weeks is introductory courses. They will be held in three stages: March 19-24, April 16-21, and May 10-16 at the address: Kyiv, Volodymyrska Street, 60, room 457 (2nd floor, art gallery). Free admission.
For more detailed information about the festival, contact the organizers, tel.: (044) 216-51-26, 211-39-65, fax: 244-50-96, e-mail: [email protected], www.cece.org.ua
PLANET OF LANGUAGES
And on March 17-18, the language festival 'Planet' will take place in Berdyansk (Zaporizhzhia region). It will feature more than 25 languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Polish; from the languages of the former USSR – Latvian, Belarusian, Azerbaijani, Armenian. There will also be more exotic languages for us – Japanese, Romani, and the group of artificial languages will be represented by Esperanto and sign language.
Each of the two days of the Festival will consist of two parts: daytime (language presentations, round tables, discussion clubs) and evening (international concert, polyglot competition).
More detailed information about the festival can be obtained from the organizers. Language Festival 'Planet': 71114, Zaporizhzhia region, Berdyansk, Potiyskaya Street, 13; tel. (06153) 6-33-25, e-mail: [email protected].