Discover the world through languages, on European Day Of Languages!

Hallo! Oi! Hola! Hej! Did you know that 26th of September is celebrated globally as European Day of Languages?!

(Updated on 26th Sep. 2020. First published on 26th Sep. 2014).

As a traveler, i’m a big fan of immersing into local cultures – and languages are an integral part of helping in enabling that.

Remember, knowing the local language and immersing in cultures is not a must, but it WILL enhance your experience + help you make great friends everywhere… especially if you’re traveling to Europe / Central or South America soon. So do consider learning at least the basics of a foreign language before you travel there, for a more immersive cultural experience!

Here are some resources to help you get started:

1. Spanish for tourism – Instituto Hispania
2. German courses – Goethe-Institut
3. French courses – Alliance Francaise
4. The EDL Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/13428601547/
5. Lingvo.info – a new multilingual website about languages: http://lingvo.info/en
6. European Day of Languages – The official website.
7. #coeEDL – Track this hashtag for info around the EDL.
8. Language Learning Apps:
   (i’ve personally used and love them all)…
   • Mango Languages– I love how the app focuses on pronunciation, right from the start!
   • Beelinguapp – great for overall comprehension since it delves into sentences and scenarios.
   • Duolingo – great for building vocabulary. Particularly, check out Duolingo Stories, which is my favorite part of Duolingo, where you can listen to and learn from daily interactions told through fun stories.
   • Lingbe (current favorite) / Tandem
     – both apps let you connect with native speakers from around the world.
9. Join or start a Duolingo Mumbai Portuguese meetup community, for a fun time learning with fellow language aficionados.
10. Listen to my ‘Language Hacking’ podcast for some of my own tips for language learning using the Devnagari script.

You’ll find some fun games, learning resources, events and activities lined up to celebrate this culturally rich celebration worldwide!

If you want to practice Portuguese / Spanish / French / German with me, ping me on Skype: ‘kaushal‘ or look me up on Lingbe / Tandem.

Still here, and want to learn some more languages? Here are some of my favorite language learning lessons on YouTube….

French with Lya

Italian with Manu

Portuguese with Juliana

Spanish with Ana