Education Minister Says Second Mother Tongue Concept for Future

Brussels, 15 February

The idea of "personal adoptive language" as a sort of second mother tongue is a "concept for the future", Education Minister Milan Zver said on the sidelines of the first EU ministerial on multilingualism in Brussels on Friday. He added that this was possibly a "step coming ahead of its time", but a "reality" in the future.

The idea of a second mother tongue envisages every European learning two languages besides their mother tongue: the first as the language of international communication and the second as a personal language, which is more than just a foreign language, European Commissioner for Multilingualism Leonard Orban meanwhile explained the concept.
A second mother tongue would not be learnt with the help of grammar rules, but through the culture and history of a country, said Orban, adding that this was a very interesting goal which was being labelled by some as an utopia. I believe it is the "real vision of Europe", said Orban.
Zver and Orban, who together chaired the conference "Promoting Multilingualism: a Shared Commitment", are aware of the sensitivity of the language issue in certain EU members and the danger that the promotion of personal adoptive languages as second mother tongues would trigger questions about loss or fusion of national interests in the EU.
The officials also emphasised the relations between economy and multilingualism, Minister Zver highlighting a a point made by one of the speakers of the conference, chair of a a new Business Forum on Multilingualism Etienne Davignon, who said that "the economy is particularly interested in multilingualism since it has a positive effect on efficiency".
"The purpose of this conference is also to inform EU ministers about various influences of multilingualism on society, collect proposals for the promotion of multilingualism at the national and EU level, and to define areas of joint activities for the promotion of multilingualism in the future," the European Commission said.

Education Minister Says Second Mother Tongue Concept for Future

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