Special event held in Chineham to celebrate languages (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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Special event held in Chineham to celebrate languages
11:00am Wednesday 10th October 2012 in Local By Emily Roberts, Chief Reporter
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European Day of Languages celebration at Christ Church, Chineham
PEOPLE had plenty to say at a special event that celebrated European Day of Languages.
Language school Linguatastic organised the event at Christ Church, in Reading Road, Chineham, and around 70 people came along to mark the international day.
A quiz about languages entertained visitors, and there was country dancing, taught by Newbury and District Caledonian Society.
The annual event raised money for the school, which is based at Chineham Village Hall and offers language classes to children and adults.
Fiona Biermann, who runs Linguatastic, said: “It went really well. The idea was to promote languages and it gave people the opportunity to meet others who are interested in languages, to practice a different language, and meet people who speak different languages, and also to learn the importance of learning another language. We also had food from all around Europe which introduced people to things they hadn’t tried before.”
The official European Day of Languages was on September 26, and it is held annually to celebrate the 6,000-plus languages spoken around the world.
The aim of the day is to show people across Europe how important languages are, and the fun that can be had learning them and discovering the rich and diverse cultures behind them.
Among those who attended the Chineham event was the Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane Councillor Martin Biermann and his wife Chansopha, who are Fiona’s father and mother.
