[SoaS] EU language requirements for SoaS

[samy boutayeb]

Hi Peter,

Le mercredi 28 juillet 2010 à 07:28 +0100, pbrobinson at gmail.com a
écrit : 
> Hi Samy,
> 
> On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 5:14 PM,  <s.boutayeb at free.fr> wrote:
> > Hi Peter,
> >
> > Not sure if I got the point or your question in my initial answer (
> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-July/001626.html ), where you will
> > find a list of the EU languages with their corresponding ISO codes.
> > Anyway, apart from the language list officialy used in the European
> > institutions, you should be aware that all of those languages are (AFAIK) left
> > to right and use one of the following alphabets: latin, cyrillic or greek.
> 
> I''m aware of the base latin/cyrillic/greek language bases but i
> wasn't aware that any of those and the EU languages based on them were
> right to left languages.
> 
> Apparently (according to Sean a while ago) somewhere there is a list
> of officially supported EU languages required for education. I believe
> this is a list that is needed to be supported by particular
> devices/software in order to be able to be endorsed by the EU. I know
> nothing more about this but if you have links I would appreciate it.
> 
> Peter
> 

As for the EU language policy in education, you should find a review of
the guidelines set by the EU authorities in:

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Conventions_EN.asp

and in

http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/eu-language-policy/index_en.htm?cs_mid=183

The general aim of thoses recommendations, as defined in the "Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages" is to encourage member
states to promote widespread plurilingualism, not only in the use of the
European national languages but also of the regional or minorities
languages and dialects (aka minority languages). The aim is to promote
et to preserve the diversity of cultural expressions.
As for education is concerned, the EU states should promote the
bilingualism and plurilingualism in education.

One of the most recent recomendation is the "Recommendation
CM/Rec(2008)7E to member states on the use of the Council of Europe's
“Common European Framework of Reference for Languages” (CEFR) and the
promotion of plurilingualism (and Explanatory Memorandum)":

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/SourceForum07/Rec%20CM%
202008-7_EN.doc

For more information, see the page on the "European Language Portfolio",
a tool aimed to support the development of plurilingualism and
pluriculturalism:
www.coe.int/portfolio

Maybe you may find here informations suitable for your needs.

Regards,

Samy