Today’s Thursday Thought was brought to us by Sixth Formers, Abi, Rada and Emily who talked about the benefits of learning languages at school, in recognition of the European Day of Languages, which takes place this Saturday 26 September.
This day has been around for 20 years to celebrate Europe’s different languages and connected cultures as well as encourage people to learn a language other than their own.
Did you know there are 24 official European languages but more than 200 are spoken on the continent?
Rada said: “Speaking other languages has enabled me to come and study abroad which has been a dream of mine for many years prior to coming to Shiplake.”
The girls also spoke about the benefits of speaking an additional language when applying for university places and jobs, as it sets you apart from the many other candidates who may also be vying for the same place.
Some Fun Language Facts
Q: Which language has the biggest vocabulary?
A: English with over 250,000 words
Q: Which language has the smallest vocabulary?
A: Taki Taki which consists of only 340 worlds (it’s an English based Creole spoken by 120,000 people in South America)
Q: Which language has the biggest alphabet?
A: The Cambodian alphabet with 74 letters
Most European languages belong to three major groups:
- Germanic
- Romance
- Slavic
The three girls also shared some sign language as this week is also International Week of the Deaf and talked about how there is no universal sign language and that there can even be more than one type of sign language within individual countries.
We were also reminded that speaking the language of kindness and empathy is just as important as speaking a foreign language. The girls' Thursday Thought was finished with a quote from Frank Smith: "One language sets you on a corridor for life; two languages opens every door along the way."
.jpg&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Enseñando Español con rugby")
