World Language Centre in Iceland
Why a World Language Centre?
• to raise awareness of the importance of linguistic
diversity as one of mankind’s most precious
cultural heritage
• to emphasise the importance of foreign
language proficiency and cross-cultural
knowledge
• to create af forum for international research in
fields relating linguistic and cultural diversity
• to honor Madame Vigdís Finnbogadóttir’s work
as the first and so far the only UNESCOGoodwill Ambassador for Languages
To promote cultural diversity
To promote linguistic diversity
Einn af hornsteinunum í menningu mannkyns eru tungumálin og sá
menningarlegi margbreytileiki sem þeim tengist. Með tungumálinu öðlast
maðurinn sjálfsmynd sína, fær skilning á heiminum fær skilning á heiminum
og myndar tengsl við menningu sína og umhverfi. Tungumálið er lykill að
menningu hvers málsamfélags. Góð tungumálakunnátta og læsi á ólíka
menningarheima er mikilvægasta tæki mannsins til að mynda tengsl við
einstaklinga og menningarhópa, jafnt heima sem heiman.Tungumálið er
lykill að menningu hvers málsamfélags.
语言及与之相连的文化一直扮演着人类文化遗产基石之一的角色；语言是人
类发展文化整体和增强个人民族国家认同感的一种手段；语言学的多功能性
和对不同文化的理解力是在国家和国际范围上将人们连接起来的最重要工具。
对当今社会来说，截然不同的文化和语言学区域之间的全球合作从未像当前
一样如此重要，这尤其体现在教育、技术、贸易、政治、援助和地区发展中。
在如此多领域中联系不断加强的一个世界中，掌握语言的能力变得日益增长
地重要；而当前国际社会面对的许多严重问题,诸如全球变暖、贫富差距的加
剧及性别不相等，只能通过国际合作来被解决。这又要求人们理解语言多样
性和具备相应的文化素养。
Why in Iceland?
• The symbolic location of Iceland as a
stepping stone between 2/3 continents
Why in Iceland?
•
Cultural heritage grounded in language and literature
•
Despite abundant foreign influence over almost eight centuries
Icelanders have managed to preserve their native language
•
We can serve as a good example for nations where languages are
endangered
•
Great emphasis on the importance of foreign language skills
•
Language skills and cultural literacy have been of vital importance
for communication with other nations
How to realize the vision of WLC?
• to create a forum for international research in fields
relating to linguistic and cultural diversity
• to establish an extensive database on languages and
culture. The first step would be to gather corpuses in
those languages taught at the University of Iceland
• to create a virtual experience of languages and cultures
• to provide excellent facilities for academic studies in
languages and cultures
• to create home areas for all the languages taught at the
University of Iceland with modern facilities and
necessary resources and equipment
How will WLC function?
• Facilities for visiting scholars
• Facilities for international conferences and research
cooperation
• Language library and resource centre
• A room/museum and auditorium in honour of Vigdís’s
contribution to languages and cultures
• An information and experience centre (experimentarium)
for the languages of the world and the cultures
associated with them – open for public
How is the language
situation in Morocco?
Does the written language have
letters or ideographs/kanji?
In what ways can robots
communicate?
When will WLC be opened?
• 15th April 2010?