The Language Rich Europe project partners have gathered in Vilnius (therefore the “labas” of the title which means “hello” in Lithuanian) for two days to discuss the next steps of the project. The British Council office in Lithuania has been organising the whole event and the first day of the meeting on Thursday 2 December took place at the Ministry of Economics. The meeting will end on Friday 3 December and more articles will follow on this blog. In the meantime, here’s a very short update on the first very productive meeting day.
We were welcomed at the Ministry of Economics with the statement of how important multilingualism is for Lithuania and how it can influence global trade. Followed by a warm welcome to “the multilingual city of Vilnius. With only 0.5 % of Lithuanians speaking only one language, Vilnius is a natural habitat for such a meeting!” We then listened to a presentation by Irena Smetoniene, Chair of the State Language Commission. Ms Smetoniene went through the role of the Commission in the preservation of the Lithuanian language, explaining that “Lithuanian language ensures national identity and survival” and that “Its survival depends on policy.” Foreign language learning being part of the Ministry of Education’s role.
Throughout the day, partners had the opportunity to work on the Language Rich Europe index questions and think further about the methodology that will be used to collect data across the different countries.
At the end of the day, we had the chance fo visit the Lithuanian Language Museum where we could learn about the history of lithuanian letters, the “Merry-go-round of words-shadows” and the Lithuanian language dictionary (the dictionary began being written on cards in 1922 and was finished in 2002, it is all accessible online now).
Photos by Kamile Zickyte.
Language Rich Europe 