FUEN President Hans Heinrich Hansen and FUEN Head of Office Susann Schenk handed over the third prize for “Lasse and Maria”, consisting of 500 euros, to the students of class 7, their teacher Kerstin Schröder and school principal Susanne Haupt.

The next stop was in Tønder/Tondern, at the Ludwig-Andresen-School. Their 8th class and their teacher Anette Okholm received the first prize for “Synnejysk kaffeboe“, consisting of 1000 euros.

The chairman of Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger (BDN), Hinrich Jürgensen, and BDN Secretary-General Uwe Jessen offered ice-cream to all the school students. Furthermore, our new map of minorities & regional and minority languages in Europe has been introduced to the students. The Nordschleswig Germans in Denmark, including School Counsellor Claus Diedrichsen, congratulated the winners and told them that they are very proud of the students.

Background information:

MiLaS – in April 2014 our European language campaign language diversity started the first Europe-wide online-language competition for youth and young adults, that focuses on linguistic diversity and multilingualism. The emphasis is put particularly on the regional and minority languages of Europe, which should become more attractive and improve their image.

“Show us how beautiful your language(s) are! Show us in a relaxed, cool, funky or emotional way, using self-written poems, sketches or songs, what you are capable of and how beautiful your language(s) are!” – that was our call.

MiLaS has been supported by the Region of Syddanmark.

language diversity

… a European campaign dedicated to raise awareness for multilingualism and cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe!

… supporting existing events with a regional, national and European impact in the cultural, sports and youth sector!

To decide who would be the winner was not easy at all. The top-notch international jury had a hard time and also the audience of more than 200 people from all over Europe clearly would have been satisfied if every single one of the finalists would have received a prize. But there can only be only one winner, or in the case of MiLaS, only two: the Ludwig Andresen School from the German minority in Denmark with their act “synnejysk kaffeboe” and Lisiana Demiraj from Albania with “Ai – He” shared the first place. Closely behind them was the second place for SAEK serbski widejokružk in cooperation with “Ignac Fecich & dance company” (DE) with the song “Ćek dom (Get home)”. The third place went to Manuel Trapp (DE) with his act “Stolz ein Jenischer zu sein (Proud to be Yenish)”, which he had to share with the Seventh Grade Class of Deutsche Schule Pattburg (DK), with the act “Lasse und Maria”.

We would like to express our thanks to the concert hall of the Alsion-building for their professional structure and their great support. We also thank the Nordschleswigsche Musikvereinigung-orchestra and Simon Glöde and his band for their music performances during the prize ceremony.

A special thank you for our two moderators Hester Knol and Stephan Kleinschmidt, who navigated us through the programme.

We also thank the Region of Syddanmark for their financial support for both the prize award ceremony and also for the competition.

Last but not least we want to very much thank all the participants, our European jury, all organisers and supporters and the great audience in the Alsion-building: It has been great fun together with you!

Background information:

MiLaS – in April 2014 our European language campaign language diversity started the first Europe-wide online-language competition for youth and young adults, that focuses on linguistic diversity and multilingualism. The emphasis is put particularly on the regional and minority languages of Europe, which should become more attractive and improve their image.

“Show us how beautiful your language(s) are! Show us in a relaxed, cool, funky or emotional way, using self-written poems, sketches or songs, what you are capable of and how beautiful your language(s) are!” – that was our call.

Our MiLaS acts:

First place

Eight Grade Class of Ludwig Andresen Schule (DK) with: Synnejysk kaffeboe

Demiraj Lisiana (AL) with: Ai – He

Second place

SAEK serbski widejokružk – in cooperation with “Ignac Fecich & dance company” (DE) with: Ćek dom (Get home)

Third place

Trapp Manuel (DE) with: Stolz ein Jenischer zu sein (Proud to be Yenish)

Deutsche Schule Pattburg, Seventh Grade Class (DK) with: Lasse und Maria

More MiLaS videos – weitere MiLaS Beiträge (in alphabetical order / in alphabetischer Reihenfolge)

AUSTRIA / ÖSTERREICH

Burgenland Croatian birthday wishes – Folklorna grupa Poljanci

Burgenland Croats/Burgenlandkroaten Austria/Österreich

DENMARK / DÄNEMARK

Language Diversity News – Luzie & Lina

GERMANY / DEUTSCHLAND

Die Spreewald Titanic – Team 7

Lower Sorbs/Niedersorben – Germany/Deutschland

hjulene på bussen – Lea und Lara

Danes/Dänen – Germany/Deutschland

Jeg har en flyvemaskine – Lea Heuermann

Danes/Dänen – Germany/Deutschland

Kike än Kake (Kristian and Karsten) – Rökefloose

North Frisians/Nordfriesen – Germany/Deutschland

modele gimberle – Manuel Trapp

Yenish/Jenische – Germany/Deutschland

Our Lower Sorbian Grammar School – Wild kids

Lower Sorbs/Niedersorben – Deutschland/Germany

Parolas al mi? – mobtik

Germany/Deutschland

Tied uptowaken! – Time to wake up! – Josie Deters

Germany/Deutschland

wěrna rědnosć (true beauty) – Měto Nowak

Lower Sorbs/Niedersorben – Deutschland/Germany

GREECE / GRIECHENLAND

Istip – Educative and Culture Movement of Edessa

Greece/Griechenland

HUNGARY / UNGARN

Gemeinsame Sprache – Zentrum.hu

Germans in Hungary/Ungarndeutsche

Szívem-Rózsám – Angela Korb

Germans in Hungary/Ungarndeutsche

Tr Schuster Stefan – Schnellenberger&Egervari

Germans in Hungary/Ungarndeutsche

Tulen (Tulis) – Zentrum.hu

Germans in Hungary/Ungarndeutsche

Wie daham! – Zentrum.hu

Germans in Hungary/Ungarndeutsche

NETHERLANDS / NIEDERLANDE

Spoken Word – Dirk Geerdink

West Frisian/Westfriesen – Netherlands/Niederlande

POLAND / POLEN

Na wczasë – BLIZA

Kashubians/Kaschuben – Poland/Polen

ROMANIA / RUMÄNIEN

Nu hiu faimos ama limba a meaua easti! – “La Steaua” Cultural Association

Aromanians/Aromunen – Rumania/Rumänien

RUSSIA / RUSSLAND

Ein besonderer Geburtstag (Один особенный День Рождения) – Die Brezel

Germans in Russia/Russlanddeutsche – Russia/Russland

Miene Muttersprock es Plautdietsch – Nadja Barg

Germans in Russia/Russlanddeutsche – Russia/Russland

Sprachen lernen in Sibirien – Zwetnopolje

Germans in Russia/Russlanddeutsche – Russia/Russland

Tanzen verbindet (танец обьеденяет) – Immel

Germans in Russia/Russlanddeutsche – Russia/Russland

Press release MiLaS prize ceremony (PDF), 12.05.2014

Campaign of language diversity: MiLaS video competition

More Photos

MiLaS – what is it all about, many people will ask. Easy: in April our European language campaign “language diversity” organised the first Europe-wide online-language competition for youth and young adults, that focused on linguistic diversity and multilingualism. The emphasis is put particularly on the regional and minority languages of Europe, which should become more attractive and improve their image.

“Show us how beautiful your language(s) are! Show us in a relaxed, cool, funky or emotional way, using self-written poems, sketches or songs, what you are capable of and present your language(s)” – that was we asked for.

From a total number of 30 contributions from 10 countries and in more than 25 languages the 10 most popular videos were selected in the first round by Facebook-users at our social media platform milas.language-diversity.eu. There you can still find all videos. In the second round our jury of six persons from all over Europe had to decide. Based on 8 criteria (e.g. artistic quality, creativity, originality, content, reach) the jury selected the 5 best videos out of the 10 most popular contributions.

The five finalists will now be invited to the prize ceremony in Sønderborg (DK) next Friday and their videos will be presented to the audience in a third round. There will be a poetry slam vote where the audience will decide which will be the three best videos. The winner will get 1000 Euro! The second will get 750 Euro, and the third 500 €!

The competition and prize ceremony are supported by the Region of South Denmark, from funds allocated to celebrate the jubilee of Dybbøl 2014.

The five finalists are:

Name                                                                                        Title                                                   Minority/Language

We invite you all for the MiLaS prize ceremony at Europe Day, 9 May 2014 at 17:00 hr in Sønderborg (Denmark), which will take place in the concert hall of the Alsion building.

MiLaS press release (PDF), 05.05.2014

During the practical part we did some group work: The participants should come up with ideas for our video competition MiLaS. They came from various regions of Russia, and were a linguistically and culturally diverse group consisting of teachers, students and other pedagogues. As a result, the outcomes were diverse and multilingual as well!

Furthermore, we met representatives of the Karachay-Balkar youth organization „Elbrusoid“” in the German-Russian House in Moscow. They speak the Karachay-Balkar language – a Western Turkic language, written in Cyrillic alphabet.

Many thanks to the International Union of German culture (Internationaler Verband der deutschen Kultur, IVDK) for the invitation to Russia and many interesting meetings and experiences!

An interview with the LD team can be found here: „Будущим вожатым языковых лагерей рассказали о проекте Language diversity“ (Russian)

Read more: „Teams aus Russland beim internationalen Wettbewerb MiLaS dabei. Online-Abstimmung bis 02. Mai“ (German)

More Photos here

MiLaS – what is it all about, many people will ask. Easy: on 1 April our European language campaign “language diversity” will start the first Europe-wide online-language competition for youth and young adults, that will focus on linguistic diversity and multilingualism. The emphasis is put particularly on the regional and minority languages of Europe, which should become more attractive and improve their image.

Show us how beautiful your language(s) are! Show us in a relaxed, cool, funky or emotional way, using self-written poems, sketches or songs, what you are capable of and present your language(s).

Every participant can choose his or her own poetic style. All forms of modern literature and creative language are allowed: classic or modern lyrics and sound poetry, cabaret and comedy, or short stories. We prefer rhythmic performances that interact with the audience, however.

There are no limits, except for the length of course. You can upload a video of up to 3 minutes on our Facebook page and with the support of your friends, who can vote for you, you can win one of our great prizes.

From the 10 most popular videos, our jury composed of persons from all over Europe will select the five best contributions. The authors of these videos will receive an invitation for the award ceremony in Sønderborg, Denmark, on Europe Day, Friday 9 May 2014.

Therefore – don’t wait too long, be creative and show us, what you’re capable of. Because you can only win and make your own language famous!

Go to the online-language competition: milas.language-diversity.eu

More information about MiLaS (background, terms and conditions, posters and FAQ) can be found here.

Contact: If you have further questions, please contact:  info@language-diversity.eu

The teaching programme most tried out in Belgium is called CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning): this is how all the forms of instruction are called that integrate the teaching of a second or foreign language in non-language classes, such as history, biology or mathematics.

The online platform TIBEM (Tweetaligheid in Beweging – Bilinguisme en Mouvement) gives information about this immersion-teaching method, where especially the German-speaking Community in Belgium provides a best-practice, as French is taught as a mother tongue starting at elementary school level. But also “Eveil aux Langues”, an initiative of the French Community in Belgium, is a distinguished programme having the objective to create awareness for multilingualism among small children in particular. With audio-CDs also parents who are not bilingual themselves, can familiarise their children with bilingual and multicultural surroundings.

Professor Peters spoke about the latest (neuro-) scientific findings on bilingualism and multilingualism. The part of the brain responsible for attention and logic of people who speak a number of languages is more developed. Moreover, multilingualism is stimulating the cognitive development of children.

So why can you not start early enough with learning languages? An American study has proven that already before birth a baby is sensitive to bilingual resonance. If a foreign language is being learnt at a very early stage, it will be located in the same part of the brain as the mother tongue, namely in the Broca’s area. Bilingual children develop this area in a twofold way. Children who learn a foreign language later use another part of the brain for the second language, which is adjacent to that of the mother tongue. Because the synapses develop predominantly in the first three years of your life, and because this process is concluded during puberty at the latest, this means that early language acquisition is very important. This is also the reason why it is easier for children to learn languages. In this context Peters referred to the American bestseller “Tout se joue avant six ans”, by Dr Fitzhugh Dodson.

Julia Marx from language diversity visited the conference in Namur and gave professor Manfred Peters information materials from our campaign that he will use in other presentations in Belgium, such as e.g. in Eupen. It was also possible to arrange a meeting with Jeroen Darquennes, also professor of German Studies at the University of Namur, who does research into the specialist field of “language policy situation of minorities”. Last but not least both of them became multipliers for our video competition MiLaS!

The language diversity team used the opportunity of having so many multilingual youth together to recruit the YEN-members as multipliers for MiLaS. MiLaS – that is our Minority-Language-Slam, which is about to start. The YEN-members will strongly advertise the participation in MiLaS in their home regions and they even made a short video already!

At the official opening, the language diversity campaign had the chance to present itself to representatives of the Slovenian minority in Italy. The region around Trieste, Gorizia and Udine, where this minority is living, is close to the border with Slovenia and has always been the place where the three largest language families of Europe meet: the Romance languages, the Slavic languages and the Germanic languages. The Slovenian minority in Italy has between 60 000 to 90 000 speakers and is represented by two umbrella organisations, the Slovene Cultural and Economic Union (SKGZ) und die Confederation of Slovene Organisations (SSO).

Bogna Koreng/Korjeńkowa, anchorwoman of “Wuhladko” and director of the MDR public broadcasting studio in Bautzen/Budyšin, is ambassador of language diversity.

I am very thankful to my parents for raising me in Sorbian and for giving me access to the Slavic languages. German friends can be very surprised when I can make myself understood to people in Slavic countries and can distinguish words and meaning from their reputed hissing sounds. I got acquainted with many delighted natives, who were much more friendly to me – an alleged German.

Because I was raised bilingually, in both Sorbian and German, and sometimes used a third language during holidays, foreign languages were more easily accessible for me. My life would be much poorer – both my private and professional life – if I had not been able to juggle with Slavic and Germanic languages.

For example during my encounter with the Polish border guard, who gives me, a journalist from Germany, information because I speak Polish so “ładnie” (beautifully); in Prague, where the barkeeper stands a round of drinks for his “Sorbian friends”; the puzzled farmers in Belgium, who almost forgot the price of their cows because of my knowledge of Dutch.

Yes, globalisation and multilingualism go together. Monolingualism can lead to one-sidedness and may present a danger of exclusion. If you do not know a second, or third, or fourth language, or at least understand them, you do not have access to the thoughts of the people, nor to a part of their life and way of living.

Despite globalisation, the special, your own identity, becomes more important. Minority languages are harbouring rich cultural assets, a source of heritage and hence a indispensable home, sometimes also a refuge. With my mother tongue I own an incredible treasure that I have to retain, reproduce and develop for my descendants. In my job as journalist and director of the Sorbian programme I try professionally to accomplish this task.

The best review after the Sorbian television show “WUHLADKO” was launched, was the following: “I never had thought that you can report about all these topics in the Sorbian language. And not just about traditional costumes and traditions.” Over a period of a decade our Sorbian editorial board has proven that we can cover any subject in our native language. Not only our traditions are rich; Sorbian in general is, and therefore the world that we make accessible with our language. And hence for me, Sorbian celebrations and traditional costumes are just as important as the development of new media in the Sorbian language.

I respect the people who invest their skills to make minority languages also visible in the social media: the people who create the technical infrastructure that is needed. They receive too little attention and support. I consider that this is an area of activity where I have to do more.

Without multilingualism a human being cannot move freely nowadays, he does not have the chance to taste cultural diversity in Europe. The minority languages are the icing on the language cake. And so let us take a portion: the bigger, the better.

And do not be afraid of multilingualism, but instead fear monolingualism. But, as you know, monolingualism is easy to cure.

Text in Upper Sorbian/hornjoserbsce: Serbska žurnalistka Bogna Korjeńkowa wo wjacerěčnosći

In the wake of the celebrations on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the German-Austrian-Danish war of 1864, FUEN will celebrate its own 65th anniversary and will demonstrate that minority work has a peace-making effect.

Next to topical issues concerning the approximately 90 member organisations from all over Europe, the congress will also take the participants on a historical journey along the tracks of 1864. Back then, there was a bitter war driven by excessive nationalism. Nowadays, the region and its four local minorities (Germans, Danes, Frisians and Sinti & Roma) is a model for minority policy throughout Europe.

On 9 May, Europe Day will be celebrated, remembering the foundation of the Council of Europe and the establishment of the European Union. Since then, Europe and the EU have been constantly changing and evolving, but whereto: does the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize aim at a Europe of the Regions or is it moving towards becoming a super power?

The development and the future of Europe will be illuminated by a prominent speaker and discussed with the members.

Furthermore, there is reason for pleasure, dance, singing and being happy. FUEN will celebrate its 65th anniversary and will invite all of you to a splendid gala evening with the cheerful sounds from the Eurovision Song Contest.

Please save the date (07-11 May 2014) in your calendar.

The language diversity team will be there as well, and looks forward to an exciting congress!

07 May Arrival

08 May Opening in Flensborg/Flensburg

09 May Europe Day in Sonderburg/Sønderborg

10 May Assembly of Delegates and 65 years of FUEN Gala Evening

For more information about the congress and registration, please click here.

More information about the German-Danish border region