26 September has been the European Day of Languages (EDL) since 2001. It is jointly organised by the Council of Europe and the European Commission.
The aim is to:
- raise awareness of the wide variety of languages in Europe
- promote cultural heritage & linguistic diversity
- encourage people of all ages to learn languages
- promote translation, interpretation, other language-related professions.
Multilingual mini language courses, online quizzes, translation workshops, language fairs, travelling book exhibitions and many more events are organised across the EU through our network of local field officers working in the Commission Representations.
Join us for the European Day of Languages 2024!
Check out what is happening in your country!
European Day of Languages - Open Day for school classes
- 24 September
- Mini language and culture courses
- Audience: pupils aged 14-16
- Venue: EU House Vienna
- Co-organisers: EUNIC Austria, Commission Representation Vienna, Austrian Association of Court Interpreters, Centre for Translation Studies Vienna
- Type of participation: registration required, claudia [dot] deutsch
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (claudia[dot]deutsch[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu) (limited spots available).
We are celebrating the European Day of Languages and are inviting pupils in 9th and 10th grade to join us in the EU house. Join our interactive programme from 10am to 1pm with fun multilingual activities such as taster language classes, language quizzes and language games.
Travelling book exhibition "Asterix"
- 9-27 September
- Comic book exhibition
- Audience: children, young people and adults
- Venue: EU House Vienna, Graz Language Festival
This is the 10th edition of DG Translation's travelling book exhibition to celebrate the European Day of Languages. Asterix comics in 24+ languages will be exhibited in the EU House in Vienna and at the Graz Language Festival in September 2024. From there, the exhibition will travel Europe - first stop: Portugal.
Graz Language Festival
- 26 September
- Fair
- Audience: children, young people, pupils, students, teachers, families, wider public
- Venue: Graz Schlossbergplatz and Graz Museum
- Co-organisers: Graz Language Network, EDIC Styria, GrazMuseum, ECML Graz
- Type of participation: open to all no registration needed
Join the Language Festival in Graz and visit the European Commission's fair stand. Find out more about EU multilingualism, take our quiz and brows our multilingual exhibition of Asterix comics.
Language Fair
- 28 September
- Public space event
- Audience: all public
- Venue: Sofia City Garden
- Co-organisers: EUNIC Cluster Bulgaria
- Type of participation: open to all, no registration needed
DG Translation and members of EUNIC Cluster Bulgaria organize the traditional Language Fair again. The fair is held in an open public space with 20 stands for different languages with games, quizzes, music and activities for children. The anniversary of the 2004 enlargement will be featured at the stands of the relevant countrues. Come and celebrate with us our multicultural and multilingual Europe!
Online quiz
- 1-30 September
- Audience: all public as from 14 y.o.
- Co-organisers: EUNIC Cluster Bulgaria
- Type of participation: open to all, no registration needed
The online language quiz is already a traditional event and is awaited eagerly by its fans. The quiz consists of 26 multiple-choice questions (in honour of the 26th of September). It will take place during the whole month of September at the following address: www.edl-bulgaria.eu. Test your knowledge, learn little known fun facts and win attractive prizes! Good luck!
Posters exhibition
- 2-30 September
- Audience: all public
- Venue: Visitors' centre, House of Europe, 124 Rakovski, Sofia 1000, Bulgaria
- Co-organisers: EUNIC Cluster Bulgaria
- Type of participation: open to all, no registration needed
Each year the DG Translation comes up with an idea for an original poster dedicated to the European Day of Languages (EDL) - 26th of September. We have gathered these individual posters in order to document the celebrations of EDL since that initiative first started. It is both a historical exibition as well as a showcase of the creativity and the evolution of graphic design over the last 15 years. The exibit will be acessible to the public during the whole month of September 2024 in the House of Europe in Sofia.
AI and language learning and use
- Panel discussion
- 26 September
- Place/venue: Vertretung der Europäischen Kommission in Deutschland, Unter den Linden 78, 10117 Berlin
- Audience: people interested in language learning and AI, general public, language professionals and teachers
- Type of participation: registration needed
- Co-organisers: Senatskanzlei Berlin
Everyone speaks about AI tools. They offer a wide range of opportunities but also bear challenges. On the European Day of Languages, DG Translation will organise a panel discussion, including a keynote speech, on ‘AI and language learning and use’ in the Representation of the European Commission in Berlin. Learn more about the chances and challenges AI offers in language learning and use!
Mini-language courses
- 26-27 September
- Place/venue: Libraries in Berlin
- Audience: 8-10-year old pupils
- Type of participation: registration needed
- Co-organisers: organised by EUNIC and the Berlin central library
Mini-language courses for 8-10-year old pupils organised by EUNIC and the Berlin central library.
Le lingue: a scuola e in Europa
- Info-session
- 25 September
- Place/venue: online
- Audience: secondary schools teachers and principals
- Type of participation: by invitation
Juvenes Translatores 2023 winning school and two Italian national Erasmus+ agencies - Indire and Inapp - will present on opportunities offered by the EU to young people to learn languages, espcially during their school years. The infosession is addressed to secondary school teachers and principals and will focus on Erasmus+, eTwinning, Language Label, etc.
Piccole donne: tradurre per l'editoria e per il cinema
- Workshop
- 1 October
- Place/venue: Spazio Europa, Representation in Rome
- Co-organisers: Casa delle Traduzioni
- Audience: escondary school students
- Type of participation: by invitation
A literary translator and a film adapter will hold a translation workshop for secondary school students. The workshop will focus on the translation into Italian of the novel "Little Women" and its 2019 film adaptation. Preparatory work will be carried out at school by the students' language teachers.
European Languages Festival
- Fair
- 28 September
- Place/venue: Riga, National Library of Latvia
- Audience: general public - individuals curious about languages and cultures, families with children
- Type of participation: open to all, no registration needed
This year, we invite you to an extraordinary event celebrating Europe's rich tapestry of languages, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the 2004 EU enlargement. For the first time, the EDL event in Latvia will be organized on such a grand scale, bringing together almost all EU and some non-EU languages to highlight and celebrate our linguistic diversity. Discussions, presentations, European Language Label award ceremony, universities offering language and translation studies, as well as language quizzes and games, competitions and much more – we look forward to welcoming you to a day filled with fun, learning, and cultural exchange!
EDL Speak dating 2024
- Audience: general public
- Date: 26 September
- Place/venue: around Amsterdam Public Library (OBA de Hallen).
- Type of participation: open to all, no registration needed
Try out speaking a foreign language in short five to ten-minute face-to-face sessions with professional language teachers and language university students. You can learn a few words/expressions in a new language, get some insights into the European cultures or have a conversation /practise in a language one already masters. It's also a nice opportunity to make new friends! . There will be an offer in 15-25 different languages, including Ukrainian and - if possible, Dutch sign language. This year we will highlight the 10 languages which have been added in 2004 and celebrate their 20th anniversary as official EU languages.
EDL fun language classes 2024
- Audience: Secondary school students
- Date: 26 September
- Place/ venue: institutes of culture, language institutes and university locations in Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Groningen
- Co-organisers: EUNIC Netherlands and Groningen University
- Type of participation: by invitation only
This EDL event consists of free sample language classes - EU and other European languages - of approximately 20 minutes for secondary school students aged around 12. Each session consists of 4 language lessons of 20 minutes and can host one school with 2 classes (approx. 60 students). Languages differ between locations. This year, there will be a special focus on the 10 ‘new’ EU languages since 2004, by giving small talks to students about the advantages of cultural and linguistic diversity and learning languages from other language ‘families’.
At the Groningen location, there will also be a focus on AI and machine translation.
Contact: DGT-HAGUEec [dot] europa [dot] eu (DGT-HAGUE[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
LinguaTest
- Online quiz
- 20-30 September
- Audience: general public
- Type of participation: open to all, registration needed
The very popular LinguaTest quiz will take place, as usual, between the 20th and the 30th of September, on the dedicated website. This year, among the 30 language-related questions of LinguaTest you can also find many on the languages of the 10 countries that joined the EU 20 years ago, in the largest accession wave. Do you know which were those countries? Are you curious to find out about their languages? Participate in LinguaTest and, besides the fun and the knowledge gained, you could also stand a chance to win the grand prize or three additional identical prizes. For more information, read the contest rules („Regulamentul concursului”), which can be found on the website. The quiz is open to all Romanian citizens who have their domicile or usual residence in Romania.
Mozaic Lingvistic Dobrogean
- Language fair
- 14 September
- Place/venue: Constanța/Vivo Mall
- Audience: general public
- Type of participation: open to all, no registration needed
The Dobrudgea region of Romania boasts a large number of ethnic communities, each with their own language. This language fair aims to celebrate the linguistic richness of this multi-cultural and multi-lingual region. The participating cultural associations will have the opportunity to showcase their languages and involve the general public in language-related games and activities. Other EU languages will also be present, through local education establishments that specialise in teaching foreign languages at secondary and university level. The planned highlights include performances by traditional ethnic dance groups, as well as a roundtable on the importance of learning foreign languages.
EDL @House of Europe
- 26 September
- Audience: school students
- various activities related to languages
- Place/venue: House of Europe
- Co-organisers: EC Representation in Romania and DaDeCe Association (creative contractor)
- Type of participation: this event is by invitation only
This event is aimed at school children and will comprise creative activities centred around languages. A special focus will be given to the languages of the 10 states that joined the EU in 2004, to mark the 20th anniversary of the largest accession wave. The activities will take place both at the House of Europe, as well as around it, as our facilitators will take the participants on a trail of discovery on the nearby streets.
EDL events organised by Europe Direct centres
- various events
- 16-27 September
- Place/venue: Europe Direct centres in Romania
- Audience: school children, teachers, adults, general public
- Type of participation: in person and/or online
Every year, several Europe Direct centres throughout Romania celebrate the European Day of Languages with various events and activities. This year, the ED centres that organise EDL events are: ED București, ED Teleorman, ED Bacău, ED Vâlcea, ED Argeș, ED Brăila, ED Iași, ED Buzău, ED Oradea, ED Vaslui, ED Râșnov, ED Harghita and ED Galați.
Please contact the respective ED centre for details. The list of the ED centres can be found here.
EDL National competition 2024
- 22 May - 16 September
- Nationwide creative language competition
- Audience: Secondary school students
- Place: online
- Co-organisers: a collaboration between the FO, European Embassies and Culture and Language Institutes and national authorities.
- Type of participation: Registration needed, open only to students in Sweden in 7th to 12th grade (högstadium and gymnasium). Deadline is on 16 September 2024.
Competition announced online which allows students anywhere in Sweden in the ages 13-18 to participate in a poetry competition organised by a jury that is part of the Swedish EDL network. Students participate as individuals - no need for their schools to be registered, and they will be invited to do a creative piece of work showcasing their skills in foreign languages other than English, all according to the thematic and format determined by the jury for this year's competition. For the 2024 edition, students are asked to write any form of poetry about their "smultronställe", a Swedish term to denote a personal favourite place that is dear and special. The first prize is a 25 000 SEK travel trip voucher, courtesy of the EC Representation.
EDL Language café 2024
- 24 September
- Public space event
- Audience: Secondary school students
- Place: Finlandshuset
- Co-organisers: a collaboration between the FO, European Embassies and Culture and Language Institutes and national authorities.
- Type of participation: Registration needed, limited number of places, first come first served; open for schools with pupils in any grades between 7th to 12th (högstadium and gymnasium). Mainly relevant for schools in the wider Stockholm region since it is an in person event.
A very popular language café running for secondary school students aged 13-19 in the Stockholm and vicinity region. 45 minute time slots back to back, when approximately 60-75 students and their teachers come into the exhibition area and have mini lessons in ca 26-28 European languages - this year, to highlight the 20th anniversary of the largest EU enlargement, we have among our ranks for the first time the embassies of Slovenia and Latvia, who will take part and give the students insights about their respective national languages. Also, the embassy of fellow 2004 enlargement member Cyprus will join the ranks of the Greek language table, bringing the "Big Bang" participation to 9 out of 10 countries from the 2004 enlargement. There is also a quiz for the students to take and prizes for those who do well. We also invite the winner of the national EDL competition to come and join us for a short prize ceremony.