International Languages Week

Press release: International Languages Week

Date: 18 August 2009

Minister of Local Government and MP for Epsom Hon Rodney Hide launched International Languages Week 2009 in Parnell, Auckland on Saturday. The launch ceremony was attended by members of the international languages community. Spanish cultural group Renacer entertained guests with their traditional dance routine. This was followed by a songwriting workshop led by King Kapisi and German hip-hop artist Nico Suave. 

Throughout the course of this week, schools around the country have planned cultural events, competitions and concerts, prividing opportunities for all New Zealanders to celebrate cultural and language diversity.  New Zealand Association of Language Teachers is sponsoring the Vocabulary Olympics, which will see more than 20,000 students from around the world competing on knowledge of vocabulary across a number of international languages.

ILW National coordinator Kenneth Leong says "International Languages Week provides us with an opportunity to encourage the learning of international languages in New Zealand.  Beyond the obvious benefit of being able to converse with the people you do business with, New Zealanders who learn a second language demonstrate enhanced proficiency in their own language, as well as the ability to come up with more out-of-the-box solutions to complex issues".

In the spirit of International Languages Week New Zealanders are encouraged to use a greeting in a different language each day

Monday 17 August - Ni hao!
Tuesday 18 August - Bonjour!
Wednesday 19 August - Guten Tag!
Thursday 20 August - Konnichiwa!
Friday 21 August - Buenos días!

The official International Languages Week website is at www.international-languages-week.org.nz
The Google Discussion group on ILW is at http://groups.google.com/group/languageweek
For Facebook users, the ILW group is at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12082261164

ENDS

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