5. Multilingualism

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. Then they said, “Come, let us build a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth and they left off building the city.

Today, centuries later, Europe doesn't strive for the construction of the tower of Babel anymore but still there is the wish to build bridges and gangways between the different languages in order to provide a better mutual understanding, thereby being able to realize new and bigger projects. A dense network would emerge, consisting of the different national, regional and minority languages, broadening the horizon of all of us. Therefore, it is the official aim of the European Union to introduce the education in at least two foreign languages besides the mother tongue until 2010. Bridges are to be built where mutual misunderstandings lead to gaping voids and strong prejudices. Because, even if there seems to be a consensus about the importance of this ambitious project, there are still many achievements to be made. Flemish and French speaking Belgians, Basques and Galicians in Spain as well as the Anglophones, again and again suspected of hegemonial attempts, are the best example of the conflicts and differences that are still prevalent in the field of linguistic policy.

Now it's our turn to find the balance that is so difficult to gain: respecting the individual while encouraging the Europeans to approach each other humanely, linguistically and culturally.



On low cost trips, at festivals as for example Vieilles Charrues (Carhaix) and Glastonbury (England) or Exit Festival (Serbia) and Sziget (Budapest) or on smaller events - multilingualism will only spread if it is lived and used concretely. This can be achieved by teaching foreign languages in a lively way, especially via mobility programmes and integration facilitation, by establishing new, interactive forms of school partnerships via instant messenger and Voice-over-IP or by subtitling our TV-series... It's our duty to find new possibilities.

The challenge consists in finding a way of integrating these possibilities in the success story of the European dialogue. Multilingualism - and that is its magic - offers the chance to approach militant regionalists and convinced universalists. Once united, we will finally be free. Free to speak with each other, free to understand each other and free to get to know each other...free to explore Europe.