Language is Everything

European Day of Languages

There are just over three weeks to go until the European Day of Languages, celebrated every year on 26th September.

The Council of Europe, which organised the first European Day of Languages in 2001, says that:

"Throughout Europe, 800 million Europeans represented in the Council of Europe's 47 member states are encouraged to learn more languages, at any age, in and out of school. Being convinced that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent, the Council of Europe promotes multilingualism in the whole of Europe."

As always, Dawn Bowes (our senior account manager here at Language is Everything) will be 'out and about' talking to schoolchildren that week. Some of the questions she'll be answering are: which language does the word 'giraffe' come from? What does Hong Kong mean in Cantonese? And how do you say 'hello' in Hungarian? (We'll bring you the answers on this blog at the end of the month!)

"Don't tell me words don't matter"

The Yorkshire International Business Convention Magazine 2009 is out now. The YIBC at Bridlington Spa was the final day of Business Week, a 5-day extravaganza of enterprise and 'can-do' sponsored by Language is Everything. The event has always been about big names and thought-provoking ideas: this year's highlights included John Cleese on the creative mind, and Dave Stewart on the future.

So, in true YIBC style, our one-page advert in the 2009 Magazine features a quote from Barack Obama to get you thinking...

  

Download YIBC Magazine 2009 advert (PDF, 420KB)

Proud to support Young Enterprise

Language is Everything will be teaming up with The Snaith School, a specialist school in business and enterprise, for the 2009/10 academic year. The school will be running a Young Enterprise course as part of its business, administration and finance diploma.

"We're very excited about lending our support to this project," said Carol Curtis, our MD. "Snaith School is the only school in the area that is running this kind of course with private sector backing, and we're all looking forward to getting started in September."

Back the bid!

Carolyn Burgess, our chief exec, has urged local companies to back a bid to bring the football World Cup to Hull in 2018, if England is selected as the host nation. Up to 100,000 people could visit the region if the KC Stadium is chosen to host games, and the Humber region would be showcased on TV screens around the world.

"Hosting a World Cup game would be a fantastic boost for the Humber economy," said Carolyn, who is also president of the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce. "As well as bringing in thousands of visitors who would spend money in the area, it would raise our profile around the world. We are encouraging all local businesses to back the bid."

You can show your support for bringing World Cup football to the Humber by registering on the official England 2018 bid site and selecting Hull as your favourite host city.

Ten things you didn't know about Brazil

Our partners at the World Trade Centre Hull & Humber will be holding an 'Opportunities in Brazil' event on 21st September.

Download Opportunities in Brazil invite

To help get you in the mood, you can download our Portuguese 'language survival card' here. And, in the latest of our regular series, here are ten things you didn't know about Brazil.

1. Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and by population.

2. The country is one of the four founding members of Mercosur, South America's biggest trade block.

3. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — better known simply as Lula — won a second term as Brazil's president in 2006.

4. The BRIC group of emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India and China — held their first official summit in Russia last month.

5. The 2014 football World Cup will take place in 12 host cities around Brazil.

6. Brazil is one of eight member states of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.

7. The Portuguese spoken in Brazil is slower and more measured than that spoken in Portugal.

8. There are occasional differences in vocabulary between Brazil and Portugal. For example, the word 'boy' is moço in Brazil and rapaz in Portugal; 'girl' is moça and rapariga respectively.

9. Brazil's Indian population speak more 100 different languages between them...

10. ... and the country is also home to large numbers of German, Italian and Japanese speakers.

 

Chairman's Awards: in pictures

In May we won the Chairman's Award for enhancing the economy of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The Chairman's Awards are presented by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, with nominations coming from both the public and from council employees.

Here are two pictures from the presentation ceremony at Bridlington Spa.

 

 

And here you can download a short film about us that was shown on the night (download time with a 1Mbps connection: 3 minutes).

Download Language is Everything (short film)

Biz Week in pictures (part 2)

More of our favourite pictures from the Humber Economic Partnership's photographic review of Business Week 2009, which was sponsored by Language is Everything.

 

 

Biz Week in pictures (part 1)

The Humber Economic Partnership has produced an interactive newsletter showcasing photos from Business Week 2009, which was sponsored by Language is Everything. You can download the newsletter here, or you can check out some of our favourites below...

 

 

 

Aim high and don't give in

Paul Duffen — who in the two years since he became chairman of Hull City has seen the football club gain and retain Premiership status — gave a typically 'can-do' talk at our 'Biz Week Extra' event at Vermuyden School in Goole yesterday.

"He was an amazing hit with the kids," said Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec). "The key message was aim high and don't give in when people say you'll never do it."

Our picture shows Paul Duffen with Carolyn (right) and Danuta Tomasz, the school's headteacher.

Business Week 2009, which was based on the theme of 'can-do' and sponsored by Language is Everything, officially came to an end last Friday. Yesterday's 'bonus' event took the multilingual, multicultural world of football as a starting point for introducing children to the challenges and opportunities of the global village of the 21st century (see our post below).

Language, culture, the global village ... and football

If you thought that Business Week 2009 was over: think again! Language is Everything, the main sponsors of this year's festival, are holding a 'Biz Week Extra' event later today with Hull City chairman and Humber hero Paul Duffen.

This afternoon's invitation-only session at Vermuyden School in Goole will continue the 'big conversation' that Language is Everything launched during Business Week: how can we best prepare our children for the global village of the 21st century?

The English Premier League is a perfect example of the multilingual, multicultural world in which we now live. Mr Duffen, a former Tottenham fan, remembers the shock and awe when Spurs signed two Argentinean stars in 1978 (Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa). Today, by contrast, more than half the players in the Premiership are from outside Britain, and the Hull City squad is made up of players from 11 countries across 5 continents.

So what kind of language and cultural barriers has Hull City faced? How have these been overcome? What has the club learned during its rollercoaster ride of a season? A specially invited audience of young people will be finding out the answers to these and other questions.

Carolyn Burgess, our chief exec, said: "The theme of this year's Business Week has been can-do, and I can't think of two better words to describe Paul Duffen. This event is going to be something that a group of young people remember for a very long time. Children are fascinated by language and culture, and football is a brilliant way to introduce them to the global village of the 21st century."