(Photo credit: Jayne Russell Photography and Lisa Choy)
Ciao! Olá! Cześć! Labas! Terve! And the list of greeting in European languages goes on and on. On 26 September, European countries joined hands to showcase their cultural and linguistic diversity at The Speak Dating Event.
“Learning languages is opening a window to other worlds and cultures,” Ms Carmen Cano, the new head of the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macao, noted during the opening ceremony. “[…] We appreciate and rely on our cultural diversity and unity because this two things make us stronger and more tolerant.”
The event is a project of the European Union National Institutes for Culture in Hong Kong (Alliance Française, British Council, Goethe-Institut Hongkong and Instituto Italiano di Cultura) in collaboration with various Consulates General of EU member states in Hong Kong and funded by the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macao.
EU residents speak over 200 languages, among them 24 are official. 12 had their stands set up at the event, giving out European language passports and gifts to participants.
