On International Mother Language Day, we celebrate the rich linguistic and cultural diversity that defines our Union, as well as the importance of protecting and promoting mother tongues across Europe.
-
On International Mother Language Day, we celebrate the rich linguistic and cultural diversity that defines our Union, as well as the importance of protecting and promoting mother tongues across Europe.
The EU is home to:
24 official languages 
60 regional or minority languages spoken by 40 million peopleMultilingualism is a founding principle of our Union and part of what makes our continent so vibrant.
This diversity is our strength.
-
It's funny, that you post this in #English and solely in English. Which is the official language only in two member nations, #Irelande and #Malta, and even there second to #Irish and #Maltese, respectively.
I know, that my #Basque and #Catalan friends will not be happy: But how about declaring #Spanish THE official language of the #EU? It is the second largest language in number of native speakers after #Mandarin, and it's nine times the native speakers of English inside the EU.
-
@kinkkong @EUCommission honestly, using a language that is not the official language of one of the big countries of the EU (but is widely known as a second language) sounds better than giving undue advantage to the people in a country that already has a big population.
And besides, if that single language had to be chosen by number of EU speakers, I believe that German or French would come first, then Italian¹, and only then Spanish
¹ please don't! too many Italians are already self-centered assholes, they don't need to be helped gain confidence in their cultural importance this way.
-
Ciao @valhalla,
do you mean that using English now does make sense, because of Brexit?
@EUCommission @kinkkong -
@Pare @EUCommission @kinkkong it's not like they were the most important EU country either, but yeah, it helped
I hope that when Scotland will join back into the EU they'll use Scots and Scottish Gaelic as their main official languages :D
-
@valhalla @EUCommission @kinkkong but everybody loves the sound of Italian… so it would make sense to use it at least instead of French as co-official language of the EU…
-
@paride5745 @kinkkong @EUCommission come on! if French was good enough for the first king of Italy¹, there is no need to use Italian as an international language :D
¹ yes, fun fact: the first king of Italy didn't speak Italian as his native language
