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Hello. I am Richard Simcott.
and this year we had a polyglot conference
in Budapest. The idea was in the beginning
to hold the conference every year in different countries
so not just in Europe but also outside Europe and that's why we decided
to have a conference next year in Canada.
This only thing is that the online community
who were with us in Budapest wanted to have another
conference in Europe. And that's why we're here today. I met
Emanuele also in Budapest and he also
speaks a lot of languages.
and he is really attached to Serbia and Novi Sad
Yes, I really love
Novi Sad and Serbia. I have been coming here
now to Novi Sad 13 years already and I have learnt the Serbian language
12-13 years
and every year when I come
I learn it better and better and also there is also the contact
with the people from Novi Sad.
out of the blue this year I received a suggestion from the Cultural Center of Novi Sad
to hold the next Polyglot Conference here in Novi Sad, which is a really special city
there are some characteristics which are really unique in Europe and in the world.
I will let Andrej Fajgelj speak more about that
So we are here in Novi Sad and I am here with Andrej now, who is
helping us to support this conference in Novi Sad next year, in 2014.
I am really really pleased. What do you think it will bring
to the city? I believe, first when I heard of the conference
I was very much enthusiastic for it
because, me too, I am also interested in languages and I speak a few of them
and when I saw Emanuele speaking with you and others
participants in some 16, or I forget, languages
I was really impressed and I thought we should really have something like this
in Novi Sad because Novi Sad is traditionally
a city of different languages. We have four official languages here spoken
and used in everyday life and we have
also for instance our television, regional television, broadcasting in 10 languages
and Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia. It is situated on the Danube river
so it connects a bit Europe through this aswell. So I thought it would be great
to organise such a conference in Novi Sad. Yeah, I agree.
I understand that you speak different languages too, so personally for you it is very interesting.
I think you speak French, is that right? Yes, yes.
I speak French with my children and besides that I am a French teacher.
I studied in French. I speak, but I am not like you
who speak 10s of languages
about 10, but I am personally interested in taking part in this conference and I am interested also
to popularise this idea
that many people around the world are in fact bilingual
and multilingual and it's useful in my opinion
and it's useful to present this idea
If another person speaks in a different language
what does that mean for that person?
Let's say...even you speak with your family
in various languages and
when I was at a friend's place in Brussels, their child, we're talking small children when they just start speaking...
so for instance let's say they see the animal "horse"
whether or not you say to them, "konj" or "horse or "cheval"
that there are a number of possibilities and I think that people with
multiple languages consciously choose the possible names for the animal, especially
in relation with what they use with different people. Of course, thank you.
I would like to get together, present
the city of Novi Sad and the idea
of the putting together this conference
and to present of course in some way this big side of Novi Sad and Serbia that people may not know.
Yes, it's been very interesting. Precisely here in The Balkans
Especially here in Serbia
there are many languages that people speak here. I have heard
in the streets here in Novi Sad, how people speak
and it's really interesting to me as a
I'm not a linguist, but as a polyglot
what that is like and what it means to the community
I think that you can of course discover
what that means and how we educate
people who don't know, or want to know more than they know
I think that's what this conference can bring. Thank you. Thank you!
At this end of this lovely day. We thank the city of Novi Sad
and the director of the Cultural Center, Andrej Fajgelj
for the opportunity he has given us
and we hope that you will come to the conference
it will be very successful and that a large number of participants
will come to this beautiful city and country.