On Saturday 7 September 2013 a one-day forum on language planning for the Upper Sorbian language took place in the House of the Sorbs (Serbski Dom) in Bautzen. The meeting was organised by the WITAJ Language Centre in cooperation with the European language campaign language diversity.

The main subject for the meeting was the issue of modern language promotion: how can I maintain a language and how can I raise the status and the image of the Sorbian language within the context of European linguistic minorities?

50 participants, mainly Sorbs and other interested people from the region and some invited experts from the fields of marketing, new media, the economy and tourism accepted the invitation to discuss this subject. In small groups the first ideas were collected on how to raise the image of Sorbian in the multilingual region of Lusatia, in the border region of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.

“I am very satisfied with the outcomes of the first Forum on Language Planning. We had active and very interesting discussions that we will now evaluate together. The participants were very motivated and I am glad that I have received the first responses on further cooperation”, said Dr Beata Brězan, the leader of the WITAJ-Language Centre in Bautzen/Budyšin.

Prof Dr Jeroen Darquennes, professor for German and general linguistics at  University of Namur in Belgium gave a theoretical background at the start of the meeting and answered many different questions from the participants: “I was very pleased to accept the invitation to Lusatia and I am glad with this initiative. Only with a well-conceived language planning and in cooperation with several representatives of the region will it be possible to maintain a small language, such as Sorbian, and to promote it. We made a start; now we have to keep our finger on the pulse and create a structure for the good ideas and measures, find partners and implement these ideas together!”

The conclusion has to be: there is a lot to be done, in order to take into account all the areas of language planning of the Upper Sorbian language. Starting with status planning the organisers and participants arrived at a result and a wish: in Lusatia the bilingualism and multilingualism in the border region Germany-Poland-Czech Republic should be cherished, and a common multilingual space where language use is self-evident for everyone should be developed!

“We are still relatively at the start, but we had the chance to collect many good ideas. Not only in the fields of media, economy and tourism, but also concrete ideas for poster-campaigns, that we can prepare locally in Lusatia with our language diversity team; however, we don’t want to give away these ideas already now! Of course we hope to receive support from the town and the district”, said Judith Walde, the project manager of the European language campaign “language diversity”, that is being supported by the European Commission.

After the evaluation of the first Forum a follow-up meeting will be planned and there we once again hope to have an active discussion with all participants and also with other persons who may be interested.

more photos

The main subject for the meeting is the issue of modern language promotion: how can I maintain a language and how can I raise the status and the image of a small language within the context of European linguistic minorities?

For the meeting we have invited interested Sorbs and Lusatian Germans who have the chance to discuss this subject in small groups too, for example about the use of language in the new media, in business and in tourism, but also the use of language in public. We look forward to have active contributions to the discussion and wish for good and interesting ideas.

program (in German)

On Sunday our language diversity team visited the Foreign Ministry, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Ministry for Education, getting into conversation with many organizations and institutions (e.g. the Society for Threatened Peoples) and invited people to take part in an exciting language quiz about linguistic diversity in Europe.

More photos and information

European citizens recognise the advantages that come with the proficiency of languages, such as the opportunities to work or study abroad, to meet people from other countries or to understand people from other cultures, and better chances to find a good job in your own country.

The greatest advantage of learning a new language, according to the EU citizens, is that they can work abroad: three fifths of the people interviewed share this view. A little more than half of the European citizens regard the ability to use the language for their work as an advantage (including during business travel abroad). A slightly smaller percentage see the major advantage in the ability to use the language during their holidays abroad. Just over two fifths of the people interviewed were of the opinion that learning a new language would help them to find a better job in their own country and to be able to study in another country. Almost two fifths are convinced that learning a foreign language would help them understand people from other cultures.

Another advantage is to preserve the knowledge of a language spoken in your own family. This aspect is particularly important for regional and minority languages, because normally these languages are passed on from parents to their children.

Last week: Eurobarometer Part 1: How the Europeans think about their languages
Do you want to know more? Eurobarometer 2012 “Europeans and their languages”

From the 2012 Eurobarometer survey “Europeans and their languages” it becomes clear that the number of bilingual and multilingual European citizens has decreased in comparison to the year 2006: Just above half of the European citizens (54%) (-2% since 2006) is able to have a conversation in at least one other language, one quarter (-3% since 2006) speaks at least two additional languages and one out of ten citizens can express him- or herself in at least three languages.

In view of the objective of the EU that each citizen should, next to his mother tongue, be able to speak two additional languages, this implies that it is necessary to support multilingualism and to promote linguistic diversity more strongly. The campaign language diversity is promoting this objective and works on the integration of the regional and minority languages within this objective. There are, however, few statements in the Eurobarometer 2012 about this specific aspect.

Overall, the survey showed that Europeans have a very positive perspective on multilingualism: almost all Europeans (98%) think that knowledge of foreign languages is useful for the future of their children. Furthermore, the majority of the European citizens (81%) is of the opinion that all the languages spoken in the EU should be treated equally.

Almost three quarters of the people who were interviewed are in favour of the objective set by the EU that everyone should learn at least two foreign languages. According to 77%, the promotion of language skills should be politically prioritised.

The most frequent mother tongue spoken in the EU – in accordance with the population numbers of the EU – is German (16%), followed by Italian and English (each 13%), French (12%), and then Spanish and Polish (each 8%). The question: “What is your mother tongue?” also yielded the answers: Basque, Catalan, Croatian, Danish, Galician, Hungarian, Irish/Gaelic, Luxemburgish, Maltese, Scots Gaelic, Slovak, Slovene, Urdu and Welsh.

In Austria, Finland and Ireland there is the largest increase in the number of interviewed people who say that they speak at least one language well-enough to be able to have a conversation. In Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary, in contrast, the percentages among the people who were interviewed have significantly decreased.

We recognise significant differences between countries. In regard to the long-term EU objective that each citizen should acquire practical knowledge of at least two foreign languages, we have to acknowledge that there are only eight member states where this applies for a majority of the population, i.e. in Luxemburg (84%), the Netherlands (77%), Slovenia (67%), Malta (59%), Denmark (58%), Latvia (54%), Lithuania (52%) and Estonia (52%).

Germany for example is not among the countries where a majority of the population is able to speak his mother tongue and two additional foreign languages.

Next week: Eurobarometer Part 2: Advantages of language learning
Do you want to know more? Eurobarometer 2012 “Europeans and their languages”

From 11 till 14 July, the region Lusatia in Germany celebrated the tenth International Folklore Festival Lausitz/Łužica with music, dance and languages from around the world. For four days, several folklore groups from 9 countries, among them Sorbian ensembles from the region itself and also members of autochthonous minorities, presented their traditional dances, instruments, songs and costumes to an audience of 18,000 people. The guests that had the longest journey came from Canada, Russia and Australia.

The language diversity team made sure that next to the colourful dances also enough attention was paid to linguistic diversity – we came with a post office, from which everybody had the opportunity to send multilingual greetings home from Lusatia. This action and the colourful language diversity smarties were very popular, especially among children. With the help of a quiz we tested the knowledge of visitors about linguistic diversity. For the people who were not able to tell how many languages there are in the world and which language is among the oldest in Europe, we had an information-flyer with facts on linguistic diversity and the benefits of multilingualism.

During the grand parade in Crostwitz/Chrósćicy on Sunday the participants of the parade were welcomed with an illuminated “Hello” in more than 20 languages. School students from Crostwitz/Chrósćicy in a language diversity T-shirt guided the folklore groups. At the grand final of the folklore programme the language diversity team, supported by Sorbian school students from Lusatia, sent 450 colourful balloons flying, as a symbol for diversity.

Every language represents a world of thoughts with its own metaphors, proverbs and mentalities, with its own vocabulary, sound system and grammar. The extend to which a language is endangered, is classified by the publishers of the UNESCO Atlas according to nine criteria. The most important criteria are the number of speakers and the type and quality of documentation. Another criterion: the speakers have to value their own language. Another relevant element is in which spheres the language is being used: in the family, in free time, on the internet, in school, at work, in the media.

Overview of the languages of the world

In 2010, the latest edition of the “UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger” was published.
The Atlas has information about more than 2500 endangered languages worldwide. 200 languages have gone extinct over the last three generations, about 1700 languages are seriously endangered, more than 600 languages are hardly used anymore. Half of all languages are minority and regional languages spoken by less than 10 000 people.

For Germany, the Language Atlas mentions 13 endangered languages. Sater-Frisian, North-Frisian, Lower and Upper Sorbian are regarded as “severely endangered”. Low Saxon in Germany and Denmark is regarded as “vulnerable”, and South Jutish is regarded as “definitively endangered”.

For Belgium, the Atlas mentions 8 endangered languages:
Champenois, Lorrain and Picard are “severely endangered”. Walloon and Jiddish are “definitively endangered”. West Flemish, Limburgian and Luxemburgish/Moselle-Franconian are “endangered”.

For Poland, the Atlas mentions 9 endangered languages:
Kashubian and Vilamovian are “severely endangered”, Belarusian, Polesian, Rusyn and Romanes are “endangered”, Slovincian has gone extinct.

The Atlas of Languages in Danger does not only present negative developments. A targeted policy led to an increase in the number of speakers of indigenous languages, for example in South America, Mexico, Canada and the USA. In Europe, the only positive example that is mentioned is the Cornish language (Cornwall), which in the editions of 1996 and 2001 was regarded as extinct.

Do you want to know more?
Moseley, Christopher: Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. Paris, UNESCO Publishing 2010. Online version

With a multilingual postcard action we will make sure that people send their greetings home in all the languages of the participants. We will also present our information flyer on linguistic diversity and the benefits of multilingualism for the first time.

This is where you can see what you can expect, because in the region of Lusatia it will be just as colourful as Brixen/Bressanone was:

Come and join us, support language diversity, dance and say cheers to the languages and cultures of the world!

The team supported the launch of the campaign by decorating the square in a multilingual way and with an action with balloons and toy windmills according to the motto: “We need wind and staying power to collect the required one million signatures!”

The team made sure that there was action and that the 300 visitors had fun. Not only was the action attended by the participants of the FUEN Congress, but also by passers-by and tourists from Brixen. In more than 10 languages the slogan “You are not alone. One million signatures for diversity in Europe” was shouted out, while the balloons went up into the sky, in a symbolic way announcing the news of the initiative to the whole of Europe.

We were supported by the young people from the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) and Südtiroler Jugendring, by the South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP) and the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN). Without their active support such a successful action would not have been possible.

More information:

European Citizens´ Initiative and

FUEN Congress 2013 in Brixen

There, the representatives of the 7-member citizens’ committee will be present – with the Prime Minister of South Tyrol Luis Durnwalder, FUEN President Hans Heinrich Hansen and RMDSZ President Hunor Kelemen.

Language diversity supports the European Citizens’ Initiative “Minority Safepack” – in particular the measures in regard to regional or minority languages – with different activities, and makes sure that the launch in South Tyrol has a multilingual character!

MORE