Photo: http://blog.britishcouncil.org
The workshop on "Language Rich City" took place in the Conference Hall of the Rectorate on 18th January, organized by the British Council, in a partnership with Sofia University and with the support of Sofia Development Association.
A large number of jokes is based on miscommunication due to multilingualism. Although they are mostly fun, some are not very funny, especially if you see a sign "Izlizane" (a transliterated Bulgarian word for "exit") beside a Bulgarian highway and you don't know Bulgarian. In Sofia, on the public transportation, one can enjoy the following note: “Transportation of luggage with dimensions 60/40/40 is free of charged with one single trip ticket for each unit of luggage”. Perhaps only the author of this can tell you what it means.
Such examples can be given at length, with the only effect of having fun. At the same time, much will be lost, even encapsulation within a social group can be the result.
These particular negative tendencies are targeted by the British Council global project Language rich Europe – multilingualism for stable and prosperous societies.
Sofia University Conference Hall gathered representatives of education, science and business, as well of Municipality administration.
Original by Виктор Чулев, abridged