Multilingualism in Europe?

Professor Ludwig Eichinger, the Director of the world-famous Institut für Deutsche Sprache (Institute for the German Language), visits Aberystwyth University on Wednesday 18 November to talk about the role of German in Europe.

The EU vision is that everyone should speak three languages: their own, that of their nearest neighbours, and English; but the dominance of English is now such that this goal is becoming problematic – and not only for German.

German speakers made a decisive contribution to the modernisation of Europe from the eighteenth century onwards, and in this context multilingualism on the part of the educated classes facilitated inter-European communication on the basis of at least English, French and German.

Nowadays those are still the three most learned foreign languages in the EU How does a language like German present itself in a situation where English seems to be all-powerful, how do its speakers regard it, and what sort of strategy could lead to a meaningful new multilingualism?

Professor Eichinger's talk, on An old acquaintance in a new milieu - the German language on the European marketplace, will be at 6.15 in A14, Hugh Owen on Wednesday 18th November.