European Day of Languages

26 September

What has happened in the past in workplaces?

Here are a few examples of the many ways both employers and empoyees across the UK celebrated the European Day of Languages in 2005.

The aim for Procter & Gamble, Bournemouth was for everyone to know a bit more of a foreign language by the end of the day. They chose to celebrate their linguistic diversity by organising games, competitions and food tasting. Coffee and cake were on the menu alongside multilingual quizzes at the Regional Development Agency One NorthEast in the German themes Kaffee und Kuchen. There was also a salsa lesson accompanied by some sangria.

Staff at Durham County Council were encouraged to emulate the EDL characters and say hello in different languages when answering the phone. A ‘mystery caller’ randomly called staff to see if they are taking part with prizes offered for the enthusiastic participation.

Hotels and museums in Manchester, Liverpool, Preston & Blackpool took part in a languages buddy day and Institute of Directors organised a business languages quiz.

For more details about these activities and to see what else people got up to in 2005, see the Events Calendar.

Click on the links below for an overview of activities in other sectors, they might just give you a great idea!

At school
In colleges and universities
In the community

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