National centre for languages celebrates multilingualism

Winning language projects from across the UK will be celebrated at this year’s European Award for Languages prize-giving ceremony.

Sir Trevor McDonald, a patron of CILT, the National Centre for Languages, will be presenting the awards at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

To be eligible, projects had to demonstrate excellence, innovation, how effective they were, whether they had potential for development, and their ability to inspire.

The ceremony, which takes place on the European Day of Languages, 26 September, will feature input from two of the winning projects, including a multilingual debate on the importance of language skills.

Non-multilingual guests will be able to listen to an interpretation by undergraduates at Heriot-Watt University through headsets. Students from Aveling Park School, London, will give talks in their home languages, Turkish and Amharic.

Isabella Moore, Director of CILT, said: “This is a unique opportunity for our winners, who fully deserve to enjoy the prestige of a ceremony in a venue as important as the Scottish Parliament. I”m sure it will be a day they never forget”.

CILT, the National Centre for Languages, promotes major initiatives in support of languages, developing multilingualism and intercultural competence in society. Sponsors of the Award include BBC Languages, Collins, Heinemann and the Oxford University Press.

The public gallery will be open during the ceremony, which will be hosted by Presiding Officer, the Rt Hon George Reid MSP.

Annabel Hardy.

Next week: the Centre for Excellence in Leadership write exclusively for FE News