The day will feature a diverse programme of activities, like:
A spoken word meeting
Your mother tongue is more than a means of communicating 'dryly'. Your mother tongue has emotional value and is about who you are. If the use and status of your mother tongue is not self-evident, you can lose your mother tongue by adapting to the dominant language and culture, but your mother tongue can also (partially) merge into the dominant language and change it. Or you can start to appreciate your mother tongue even more because of its special status.
In this block, musical, poetic and narrative performances will be given around this theme, by Abdelkader Benali on Tamazight (a Berber language) and by VU students on dialects in the Netherlands and loss of mother tongue. As a result of the contributions, we will discuss the meaning and appreciation of mother tongues, also in the context of 'global citizenship'
Language workshops
Have you always wanted to say 'what a beautiful country this is' on holiday in Turkey? Or wish your Iranian neighbors a good morning in their own language? Then grab your chance now! In a 45-minute workshop, you will be taught by a native speaker of Turkish, Farsi, Syrian Arabic and/or Russian. You can follow a maximum of two workshops. Register quickly because full = full!
Parallel language use session
The VU community is a multilingual community: VU students and staff speak more than fifty different mother tongues. Dutch and English are the primary contact languages for official communication. How can you have effective meetings with a multilingual group of colleagues? It is not always necessary to switch to English in a meeting. Are you curious about other solutions? In this workshop, VU employees talk about their experiences with multilingual meetings.
Don't miss out
Sign up now for this special day and celebrate language diversity with us.
Please note, most activities require registration. Use the registration form to indicate your preferences before February 13.
We hope to see (and hear!) you on the 19th.