The 27 states of the European Union share some 225 indigenous languages with many more spoken by citizens whose family origin is from further afield. Some 23 are recognised as official languages, and the EU has provided a written and audio sample of each on their Languages in the EU webpage.

To celebrate European Day of Languages, the European Commission Representation in London has made available to schools some 200,000 copies of a language mini guide. The colourful guide is an excellent EDL resource, giving a small example of European languages (PDF download).

You can find more information on the European Union in London here, as well as more on European events and news.

Meanwhile, if you are a teacher, pupil or parent, why not have a look at the EU young translator contest. This Europe-wide competition, called Juvenes Translatores, is open to secondary schools with registration running until 20 October.

Whatever you are doing to celebrate this European Day of Languages, enjoy!

• A Europe-wide celebration of all the world’s languages
• A day to kick-start language learning
• A chance to raise awareness about the value of language skills

The Day was first celebrated in 2001 and has grown every year since. And the recent expansion of the EU has seen languages such as Latvian, Lithuanian and Romanian added to the languages being celebrated.

And it is not only European languages. In my house what the day has meant is that my daughter, who normally has to wear a uniform to school, is going in dressed in a Punjabi national costume that her aunt brought her from a trip to India. And other girls will be wearing national costumes from across the globe celebrating the multi-cultural, multi-lingual nature of the school and London as a whole.

To help everyone celebrate European Day of Languages, here is a PDF guide to saying “hello” in all the EU’s native languages and some more besides.