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<h1 class="gmail-page-header">Languages help bridge the cultural gap</h1>
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<div class="gmail-date">Written by <span class="gmail-author">Svetoslav Hristov Malinov</span> on 26 September 2018 in <span class="gmail-taxonomy">Opinion</span></div>
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<div class="gmail-views-field gmail-views-field-body"> <div class="gmail-field-content"><p>There
should be a European solution for ensuring schools recognise and
protect all of the EU’s official languages, says Svetoslav Hristov
Malinov.</p>
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<div class="gmail-field-item even" rel="schema:image og:image rdfs:seeAlso"><img class="gmail-image-dimensions-landscape" src="https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/sites/www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/files/styles/original_-_local_copy/entityshare/27735%3Fitok%3DwYVuKUpY" alt="Svetoslav Hristov Malinov" title="Svetoslav Hristov Malinov" style="display: inline;"></div>
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<div class="gmail-field-item even"><p><span style="font-size:10px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif"><strong>Svetoslav Hristov Malinov | <em>Photo credit: European Parliament audiovisual</em></strong></span></span></p>
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<p>The essence of European language policy is to foster linguistic
diversity and encourage language learning for reasons of cultural
identity and social integration. Languages can be considered as
cross-border bridges. Language is the means by which any European
citizen living in a foreign member state to discover a new country and
easily find their way back home.</p>
<p>Parliament has been dealing with petitions from EU citizens living
abroad that are concerned with the lack of provisions for teaching and
recognition of language skills in their mother tongue. The objective of
these petitions is to encourage European linguistic diversity. </p>
<p>One such petition, by the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad
(ABSA), is dedicated to all languages within the EU, particularly the
less-spoken ones. The initiative aims to protect these languages and
strengthen the bonds between European pupils living in another member
state and their home country, family and history.</p>
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<p><strong>RELATED CONTENT</strong></p>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/opinion/europe-must-protect-its-rich-tapestry-languages"><strong>Jill Evans: Europe must protect its rich tapestry of languages</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/opinion/languages-are-core-our-cultural-heritage"><strong>Henri Malosse: Languages are the core of our cultural heritage</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/partner_article/leonardo-gonz%C3%A1lez-dell%C3%A1n/why-eu-should-support-minority-languages-part-its" style="box-sizing:border-box;background-image:initial;background-position:0px 0px;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;color:rgb(20,55,127);text-decoration-line:none;font-family:Roboto,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;font-weight:700">Leonardo González Dellán: The EU should support minority languages as part of its international development</span></a></li></ul>
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<p>We need greater cooperation between member states in the field of
language learning. Most of their respective educational systems do not
make provisions for language assessment opportunities and the
recognition of language exams, diplomas or certificates in official EU
languages other than English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. </p>
<p>They usually teach in schools and recognise exams only in the five
languages mentioned above. This discriminates against those pupils that
are bearers of the EU’s other official languages. </p>
<p>Therefore, educational systems need to be more efficient and more
flexible. One way to eliminate this inequality would be to mutually
recognise competences in all official languages of the EU and developing
a common European system for the assessment and attestation of language
competences.</p>
<p>The problem of non-recognition of the competences in less spoken
languages is one that affects thousands of European families and their
children. The issue affects the protection of those young people, pupils
and students, whose parent or parents have claimed their fundamental
right of free movement. This is why a common European solution is
needed.</p>
<p>What is essential here is that the key concept is not the
harmonisation of educational systems - since member states can make
their own decisions - but rather the recognition. We must strive to have
some sort of mechanism for acknowledging language proficiency,
irrespective of how pupils acquire their knowledge and competences.</p>
<p>The plenary discussion regarding the ABSA petition, which took place
in May this year, was a great victory for multilingualism. It was yet
further proof that when you have a cause and appropriate arguments, your
voice will be heard in the European Parliament and the European
Commission.</p>
<p>Multilingualism and equal treatment of all the EU’s official
languages are necessary for the free and smooth movement of our most
precious capital - people, particularly our youth. A mother tongue is
the bridge connecting at least two cultures - the one you live in and
the one you come from. Different cultures and different languages
provide the backbone of diversity in the European Union.</p>
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<div class="gmail-field-label">About the author</div>
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<div class="gmail-field-item even"><p>Svetoslav Hristov Malinov (EPP, BG) is Parliament’s rapporteur on improving language learning and mutual recognition</p>
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+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>