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#SharedEurope – European Day of Languages: Endangered languages talk & Romani taster class

A celebration of European Day of Languages with a talk on endangered languages and a talk and taster class in the Romani language

On 26 September 2019 we celebrate the linguistic richness of our continent with European Day of Languages. This year the European Commission Representation in the UK and the Directorate-General for Translation are organising an evening event on endangered languagesand on the Romani language at Europe House, 32 Smith Square, London SW1P 3EU.

NB: this event will start at 6pm, earlier than our usual evening event starting time of 6.30pm.

The evening will open with a talk about endangered languages of the world by Dr Mandana Seyfeddinipur, Director of the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme and Head of the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) at the SOAS University of London. Dr Seyfeddinipur will talk about the concept of endangered languages and the work of her archive to document them.

Then, following a break for drinks and light food:

A talk on the history and culture of the Romani language plus a taster class, with Professor Thomas Acton, OBE, emeritus professor of Romani Studies at the University of Greenwich, and Roma activist Virgil Bitu, both associated with the Roma Support Group and the Romani Cultural and Arts Company. The session will cover the Romani language as spoken by Roma across Europe, but also the mixed Anglo-Romani language spoken in the UK. Romani is classified as an endangered language but the number of speakers in the UK is on the rise. This part of the evening will follow the interactive model of our language evenings and by home time you should know enough to have a basic interaction with Roma people in their own language. No prior knowledge of the language is required.

In addition there will be language-related goodies including European Day of Languages posters, T-shirts, bags, stickers and pencils (while stocks last!), and a chance to test yourself against our famous multilingual milk quiz.

The event is free of charge and open to all, but places are limited and registration is essential here.

See here for more on European Day of Languages, including resources and information on other events across the UK and the rest of Europe.

 

Venue

Europe House
32 Smith Square
London, SW1P 3EU
+ Google Map

Organizer

Europe House
Phone:
020 7227 4300
Website:
http://www.europarl.org.uk/
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