UK Languages Work Pledge

We have written before about how it important it is that children learn a second language at school - and how sad it is that fewer children every year are studying languages in the UK. This is so important - both for the individual children who can benefit in adult life from exposure to another language and culture, and for the economy of the UK in global competition.

If you are in the UK, please sign the Languages Work Pledge organised by CILT (National Centre for Languages.) It is possible to stop the decline in language learning, but it needs government to restore the requirement for all children to learn a language to the age of 16.

Alexika's Helen wins cookery prize!

Helen Tawn, Alexika Translation Coordinator since 2003, has displayed another of her many talents. Helen won third prize  in a cooking prize across the North of England - as described in our local newspaper with a picture of a smiling Helen.

The competition was organised by Northern Supermarket chain Booths and was designed to protect traditional Northern recipes from becoming extinct. Helen's plum jumbly tart was highly acclaimed at the finals of the competition, which were held at Blackburn Rovers Football Club.

Well done Helen!

Linguistic disputes in Belgium and Spain

There is a fascinating article in the Charlemagne section of The Economist this week describing why Belgium's unending linguistic disputes matter to Europe. As I write, no government has been formed since the general election of June 210 - 235 days. The problem is based around the differences between the richer Flemish North and French-speaking Wallonia. It is possible to draw a language line through Belgium - if your children live on one side of the line, their school teaches in French - on the other side Flemish.

Contrast this with the situation in the Spanish region of Catalonia, where schools teach in both Spanish and Catalan. Theoretically at least, neither language is dominant in education.

If it proves that there is no answer to the Belgian problem and the country splits along the language line, other European countries will hope that this is not a precedent for rich regions to go their own way.