Brussels, 13/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - The commissioner for multilingualism, Leonard Orban, will inaugurate the Expo-languages Conference 2009 in Paris on Wednesday 14 January. This international forum is being organised by the Groupe l'Etudiant and focuses on languages and culture, international exchanges and the promotion of multilingualism. The 2009 conference highlights the European Union and will be organised with the support of DG Education and Culture at the European Commission and TV5Monde. Commissioner Orban will participate at a round table on languages and business and will illustrate the links between multilingualism and competitiveness, before officially declaring the Expo-languages officially open at the end of the evening.
Expo-languages visitors will be able to visit more than 200 stands where embassies will be represented, as well as education establishments, interpreting and translation centres, linguistic exchange partners, language labs, specialist libraries and tourist operators. On this occasion, the European Commission concluded a comprehensive conference programme to discuss the current language situation in Europe and the state of play in language learning. The European Commission stand will provide information on language learning opportunities, projects and host a series of music concerts from the Balkans, Greece, Romania and Portugal. On Saturday 17 January, two well-known French actors, Marie-Christine Barrault and Thibault de Montalembert, will propose a session of poetry and literary readings that will close Euro-languages 2009. The Commission pointed out that it is continually promoting language diversity in the European Union and will pursue the “mother tongue plus 2” objective (where every citizen is encouraged to learn two languages in addition to their mother tongue). It also affirmed that it is encouraging initiatives on multilingualism at all levels, whether they involve economic growth, inter-cultural dialogue or personal development. Info: Expolangues Paris - 14-17 January 2009 at Paris-Expo - Pavillon 4.1, Porte de Versailles. http: //http://www.expolangues.fr/indexEL.htm . (I.L./transl.rh)