Do you often order a coffee in English in Amsterdam? Do you feel like a fish in water in multilingual environments or do you prefer your own language? Should language diversity be promoted or official languages be protected? Are language and identity two sides of the same coin? Are you interested in language use and multilingualism, then join this online talk, recorded from OBA Theatre!

Experts from different fields and countries wil discuss issues like:

• What does multilingualism look like in daily life in Europe?
• How to handle language diversity between national borders and in Europe?
• Should education be multilingual?
• Are all languages spoken in a country of equal importance, official languages or not?
• Should English become ‘our’ lingua franca?
• Should public information, such as corona measures, be provided in all languages used in a country, or only in official languages?

Different European perspectives and your reactions will inspire future policy making and practice!

Marc van Oostendorp (Netherlands), writer (Onze Taal) and professor at Radboud University Nijmegen will lead us through the debate with international panellists:

• Harro Glastra (EU), information and communication officer at the European Commission
• Jonathan Bernaerts (Belgium), researcher at KU Leuven Centre for Public law
• Corinna Tammenmaa (Finland), language law advisor at the Finnish Ministry of Justice
• François Grin (Switzerland), professor in economics at the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Geneva

This programme has been organised and financed by EUNIC Netherlands and the Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission

Programme:
19:30 Introduction by Daria Bouwman (EUNIC) / Emma Hartkamp (European Commission)
19:40 Panel discussion
20:40 Q&A
21:00 End

Click here for the livestreamlink (online on 16-12-2021, 19:30)