It is generally agreed that Britain suffers for having a linguistically stifled population. Because of this, initiatives are being put in place to encourage language learning in schools, in the workplace and in the country as a whole. Innovative, award-winning language projects are now being recognised following the announcement of a series of sponsored special prizes. Seven of 2006's European Award for Languages winners have been selected for their work in particular areas of language training.
The Vocational International Project Sheffield was awarded a prize of £1,000 from the Alamo Group. The project won the Business Language Prize, awarded for developing language provision with a view to the needs of businesses and employers. The University of Portsmouth is awarded the same amount from the Training and Development Agency for Schools for its project Able Linguist Days, which teaches teachers. These teachers go on to teach Spanish courses and Italian courses, not to mention less popular but equally important courses such as German courses and Czech courses.
Routledge (the famous publishing group) sponsored the Adult Education Prize, which was awarded to Heriot-Watt University for its work in bringing together teenage learners and community figures in a multilingual debate.
The Spanish Embassy prize was awarded to the Junior Cambridge University Language Programme. This program won because its flexible approach was seen to encourage less motivated teenagers to give languages a chance.
It is clear to see the contrast between British attitudes to language learning and those displayed by our European neighbours. If you look at any of the English Courses London is famous for, they will be filled with learners from around the world. People regularly come from around the world to attend English School in London. The hotels in London are full all summer with people from South America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East desperate to improve their English and have a good time in the process. There is no real tradition in the UK of young people going abroad during school holidays to work on their linguistic skills.
It is not just London that attracts thousands of learners each year, as people head all over Great Britain to study. Northern England, for example, has a buoyant language school sector. English courses in Leeds and English courses in Liverpool are regularly full to the rafters with learners from all corners of the globe. The European Award for Languages winners are doing their very best to spread some of this enthusiasm to Britain's notoriously unenthusiastic youth.
