Multilingualism is one of the founding principles of the European Union, since it is the object of its very first Regulation (number 1/1958) stipulating the equal use of the official languages.
It is also a very trendy term because of the constantly increasing needs of communication and has become a reality in every day`s life of every organization, company or academic entity.
In English this term corresponds to two different concepts that are clearly distinguished in French. Which is the difference between “multilinguisme” and “plurilinguisme”? Multilinguisme means the use of several languages in one social group deriving etymologically from multi- meaning an addition of languages, while Plurilinguisme means the knowledge of several languages by one individual, coming from pluri- corresponding to diversity in unity.
This subtle distinction inspired the title of the colloquium organized in Paris by the University Paris-Ouest Nanterre-La Défense: Situations du Plurilinguisme et politiques du multilinguisme en Europe”.
A specialist in this field, Serguei Sakhno, focused his key-note speech on the question “Plurilinguisme, multilinguisme, deux notions différentes?”
TermCoord was invited to this debate to present the policy of multilingualism in the European Union; a mean to ensure the character of a multilingual society in the French sense of a “société plurilingue”. A society that respects diversity in unity; that respects the right of the citizens to use their language also as a cultural right.
