English
A delegation of the Institute for Linguistic and Strategic Studies of the University of Nanking (China) visited the Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning and the Fryske Akademy (Frisian Academy) on Monday, May 19th. The Chinese professors were favourably impressed by the strength and wealth that multilingualism can entail.
The Fryske Akademy informed the Chinese visitors about the Frisian language, sociolinguistics, and the Frisian Language surveys – another survey will be conducted in 2009. The Chinese also got information about the contribution of the Fryske Akademy to the language policy of the Province of Fryslân. Furthermore, attention was paid to the expertise of the Mercator Research Centre and to the opportunities of its international networks. The last presentation focused on the learning and teaching of minority languages in Europe; in that context the report Minimum standards, which was written by Mercator last year and commissioned by the Council of Europe, was discussed. The presentations provided the Chinese with useful new information and resulted in a lively discussion on language policy, minorities, migration, and endangered languages.
At the moment a census is in preparation in Nanking. As part of the census the researchers want to record all minority languages in China too. During the visit a possible – scientific – contribution of the Mercator Research Centre and the Fryske Akademy to this study was discussed. That is why a delegation of the Mercator Research Centre and the Fryske Akademy has been invited to pay a return visit to the Institute for Linguistic and Strategic Studies of the University of Nanking.
The Chinese delegation consisted of professor Ding Fan (dean) and professor Wang Minsheng (head research), their interpreters: Ms Cahoiju Tang and Ms dr. Yayi Chen, and their Dutch hosts: dr. Marinus van den Berg (Leiden University) and dr. Hans van de Velde (Utrecht University).
The Mercator European Research Centre for Multilingualism and Language learning receives 50.000 Euros from the municipality of Leeuwarden. The contribution is intended for the further development of the Mercator Research Centre into a European Agency for Linguistic Diversity and Language Learning in the knowledge city of Leeuwarden.
Within the City Covenant of Leeuwarden and the Berenschot plans the municipality of Leeuwarden and the Province of Fryslân on the one hand, and the Frisian institutes for higher education and the Fryske Akademy on the other, have made an agreement regarding the development of ‘Leeuwarden, fier verder!’ (‘Leeuwarden, forward with pride!’) with 5 relevant pillars, including ‘Time for beauty’, “Cure and Care’, and ‘Knowledge city’. The theme ‘multilingualism’, for which the Mercator Research Centre of the Fryske Akademy is responsible, is part of the pillar ‘knowledge city’. The contribution of the municipality of Leeuwarden for 2008 can be changed into structural funding as part of ‘Leeuwarden, fier verder!’ for 2009-2013.
The aid of the municipality of Leeuwarden and the Province of Fryslân is important support for the acquisition of European funding for projects that the Mercator Research Centre wants to develop in Fryslân and other areas, such as a European Language Agency of international stature.
