Med sin 65. kongres ønsker FUEN at påpege, at mindretals virke har en fredsskabende effekt.

Ved siden af den egentlige mødevirksomhed for vore rundt regnet 90 medlems-mindretal fra hele Europa tages kongresdeltagerne også med på en historisk rejse til sporene af 1864, hvor en bitter krig opstod på baggrund af nationale konflikter. I dag er regionen og dens fire nationale mindretal (tyskere, danske, frisere samt sinti og roma) model for mindretalspolitik i hele Europa.

Den 9. maj markeres Europadagen med fokus på grundlæggelsen af Europarådet og Den Europæiske Union. Siden grundlæggelsen er Europa og EU undergået en strøm af forandringer og udviklinger med spændvidder fra et regionernes Europa til et Europa som supermagt.

Udviklingen i og fremtiden for Europa bliver analyseret af en prominent taler og drøftet med medlemmerne.

Derudover er der sørget for hyggeligt samvær, dans og sang. FUEN er i fuld gang med at tilrettelægge sin 65. kongres og indbyder dig/jer til en fantastisk gallaaften med masser af musik fra Det Internationale Melodi Grand Prix.

Reservér venligst dagene 7. - 11. maj 2014 i din kalender.

Vi ser frem til en oplevelsesrig og spændende kongres og dit aktive engagement.

7.  maj Ankomst

8.  maj Åbning i Flensborg

9.  maj Europadag i Sønderborg

10. maj Delegeretmøde og FUEN-gallaaften

For yderligere information om kongressen og registrering, klik venligst her.

We have the following Christmas present for you: our four mascots, who promote and rescue linguistic diversity in Europe! We give advice on multilingualism and provide a network for you and your minority language!

Unser Weihnachtsgeschenk für euch: Unsere vier Maskottchen. Sie fördern und retten die sprachliche Vielfalt Europas! Sie beraten zu Mehrsprachigkeit und vernetzen dich!

See you soon again, bis bald & hač do bórze,

Judith, Julia, Mona, Évi, David & Madlenka

Auf dem Plan standen Schulstunden in Nord- und Südschleswig. Zum einen waren wir an der Deutschen Schule Osterhoist in Dänemark, um das Interesse der Schüler für die Sprachen, aber auch für die Weihnachtsbräuche bei den Minderheiten Europas zu wecken. Zum anderen waren wir zu Gast an der A.P. Møller Skolen in Schleswig in Deutschland. In Osterhoist sowie in Schleswig berichteten die Schüler ihrerseits über die eigenen Weihnachtstraditionen sowie Besonderheiten und nahmen fleißig unsere mehrsprachigen Postkarten mit nach Hause. An der Universität Flensburg stellten wir unsere Sprachkampagne sowie die Erfahrungen im Hinblick auf Visualisierung von Sprache und Literatur vor. Hier diskutierten wir mit den Studenten, welche größtenteils Lehramt studieren, ebenfalls die Minderheiten- und Sprachenpolitik in den verschiedenen Ländern Europas.

Wir bedanken uns bei Frauke Ploen und Jørgen Kühl für die interessante Führung durch die erst vor 5 Jahren erbaute A.P. Møller Skolen, bei Anke Tästensen für die gemütliche Aufnahme in der kleinen Dorfschule und bei Prof. Dr. Thomas Steensen für seinen herzlichen Empfang sowie die nordfriesischen Geschenke!

Unser Besuch im Grenzland wurde abgerundet durch eine Weihnachtsfeier mit den FUEV-Mitarbeitern und weiteren Partnern in Flensburg.

Wir freuen uns auf eine Fortführung der Zusammenarbeit auch im nächsten Jahr!

Fotoalbum

News der A.P. Møller Skolen

Neben der Diskussion und Planung der konkreten Aktionen unserer europäischen Sprachkampagne zusammen mit allen Partnerorganisationen wurden auch der Europäische Tag der Sprachen 2013 in Brüssel sowie die negative Antwort der Europäischen Kommission in Bezug auf die geplante Bürgerinitiative Minority SafePack besprochen.

Vergessen möchten wir auch nicht zu erwähnen unser interessantes und lehrreiches Fotoshooting aller anwesenden Teilnehmer mit einem professionellen Fotografen. Die Fotos dazu folgen bald – seid gespannt und folgt uns!

Willst du mehr wissen?

„Jetzt erst recht“: Großes Interesse an FUEV-Diskussionsveranstaltung über Bürgerinitiative im Europäischen Parlament

Im Mittelpunkt steht die Frage nach der Sprachförderung heute: Wie erhalte ich eine Sprache und wie kann ich den Status und das Image einer kleinen Sprache im Kontext europäischer Sprachminderheiten steigern?

Eingeladen sind alle Interessierten, Sorben wie auch Lausitzer, um sich mit dem Thema auch in kleinen Gruppen auseinander zu setzen, egal ob Sprache in den neuen Medien, in der Wirtschaft und im Tourismus wie auch in der Öffentlichkeit. Wir freuen uns auf rege Diskussionsbeiträge und gute und interessante Ideen.

Programm

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!