The “European Day of Languages” was first celebrated in 2001 as part of the “European Year of Languages”, which was co-organised by the Council of Europe and the European Union (EU). At the end of that year, the Council of Europe decided to designate 26 September as the European Day of Languages to be celebrated annually. The designation aims to raise awareness of Europe’s rich linguistic and cultural diversity, which includes over 225 languages, and to encourage people to broaden the range of languages they learn throughout their lives, thereby enhancing their multilingual skills and intercultural understanding.

In celebration of this year’s European Day of Languages, the EU Delegation has collaborated with EU Member State embassies in Japan to compile a video featuring tongue twisters in the languages of each country. EU Ambassador Jean-Eric Paquet has tackled a Japanese tongue twister.

Mr Joe Inoue (@joeinoueofficial), a multilingual content creator with over 1.3 million Instagram followers, has taken up the challenge, saying some of the EU  Member States’ tongue twisters with a “Japanese-Chinese-Korean accent.” Please enjoy Joe's unique take on these tongue twisters as well.

Following the success of last year's inaugural event, the “European Day of Languages in Hiroo Sampo Do-ri” will be held again this year to celebrate the European Day of Languages. This event is organized by EUNIC Japan, a network of EU Member States’ cultural institutions in Japan, and the Hiroo Shopping Street Promotion Association in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward. The three-day event will feature quizzes and presentations on European languages, showcasing their diversity and charm. Visitors can take part in a stamp rally by answering quizzes from various countries while strolling through the streets. On the final day, participants will also have the opportunity to engage in conversations with native speakers of these languages.

- Date: Friday, 27 September - Sunday, 29 September

    *The stamp rally will begin on 27 September. Those who collect all 14 stamps can participate in a prize drawing held on the final day, 29 September.

- Venue: Hiroo Shopping Street (Tokyo Metro Hiroo Station Exit 2)

- Organisers: EUNIC JAPAN (Cultural Institutes of EU Member States in Japan), Hiroo Shopping Street Promotion Association

- Participating countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Greece, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland

For more event details, please see the link below.

https://www.hiroo.info/?p=24760