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2023 European Day of Languages: Teaching language skills at the heart of the European Education Area

Join our virtual conference on 26 September to celebrate with us European multilingualism and talk about language teaching and learning in the EU!

26 September 2023
Online event, 12.00 - 14.00 CEST
Watch the recording
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The European Day of Languages on 26 September is a well-established opportunity to raise awareness about language learning and linguistic diversity.

Many language and cultural institutes, associations, universities and schools take part in various events and activities organised throughout the EU.

The main event will be an online conference on 26 September. This year we will focus on EU tools to help language teachers boost their capacity, notably Erasmus + and the European School Education Platform.

We will celebrate the European Year of Skills since multilingualism is one of eight key competences needed for personal fulfilment, a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, employability, active citizenship and social inclusion.

We will connect with some of the European Day of Language events taking place across the European Union (EU) Member States. Young people, teachers and other participants will tell us how they feel about languages and how they influence their life.

The event will be opened by Mr Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for Budget and Administration and Ms Sophia Eriksson Waterschoot, Director for Youth, Education and Erasmus+, DG EAC of the European Commission.

We will hold a panel discussion with experts on multilingualism, teachers and representatives of the Spanish presidency of the Council and the European Commission.

We will discuss

  • the main results of the 2023 Eurydice Key Data on Teaching Languages in Europe
  • the role of language training in initial teacher education and continuous professional development
  • resources available at European level, in particular for teachers
  • languages as a life skill – their role in many different professions

Follow the event online

The event will be streamed live online on this page and on Erasmus+ on Facebook from 12:00 until 14:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST) on Tuesday 26 September 2023.

The discussions will be interpreted into English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. You can also follow the event on social media on Erasmus+ on Twitter.

Programme

Moderators Anna Solé Mena (DG EAC) and Mariusz Czarnecki (DGT)

 

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Biography

Read Commissioner Hahn's biography

Biography

Sophia Eriksson Waterschoot is Director for Youth, Education and Erasmus+ at the European Commission's Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.

She is in charge of European cooperation on higher education, schools and youth policy, managing Europe's flagship programme for education, training, youth and sport Erasmus+ with a budget over €26 billion 2021-2027.

She launched and manages the European Solidarity Corps,an EU youth volunteering programme, and coordinated the 2022 European Year of Youth. She launched flagship actions under the European Education Area and the EU Youth Strategy, such as European Universities, Teacher Academies and DiscoverEU.

She has previously held various positions within the European Commission in the field of strategy and investment in education, employment policy, European Semester, European cohesion funds, cultural policy and business statistics.

She studied economics, business, political science and EU affairs in Sweden, France and Belgium, including an Erasmus student exchange.

She is an Eisenhower Fellow. Twitter: @sophiabrussels

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography

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