PRESS RELEASE
Embargoed to 25 September 2013
Launch of new campaign to promote 1000 words in another language for all
Is it only the most able who can aspire to speak another language, or should it be a realistic goal for
everyone?
A new campaign to be launched on 25 September aims to challenge elitist attitudes towards
language learning and calls for 1000 words in another language as a realistic goal for all.
The 1000 words campaign is one of a series of new initiatives from Speak to the Future, a broad
coalition of organisations committed to improving Britain’s capability in languages, and to raising
awareness of their economic and cultural importance. It is funded jointly by the British Academy and
the university-based programme Routes into Languages.
1000 words will be launched on 25 September at the British Council, one of the founder supporters
of the campaign. It coincides with celebrations around Europe to mark the European Day of
Languages (26 September) and will include a live video link up with this year’s main international
conference marking the occasion, held in the Lithuanian Parliament in Vilnius. There will also be
testimonies from UK organisations representing schools, businesses, learners, and cultural
organisations, pledging their commitment to achieving 1000 words for all.
Bernardette Holmes, Speak to the Future’s Campaign Director, said: ‘The idea that everyone can
learn the basics of another language is both realistic and attainable. No matter your age, your social
background or your ability, language learning can transform your future. We are not expecting
instant fluency. Yet if everyone were capable of at least 1000 words in a new language, social
attitudes and economic prospects would be significantly enhanced: young people would be better
prepared for the challenges of globalisation and our cultural and intellectual levels would be raised. I
urge everyone in a position of influence to join the campaign and help us achieve this aim’.
Vicky Gough of the British Council said: ‘For too long people from the UK have suffered from a
reputation that we are lazy linguists. Speaking another language is crucial to understanding another
culture – so let’s overturn our poor record in language learning and show that we’re ready to
engage with a multilingual world.’
Professor Nigel Vincent, Vice-President for Research and Higher Education at the British Academy
said: 'The hard thing about learning a language is getting started. 1000 words can easily lead to 5000
or more, or indeed to 1000 words in a different language. The benefits for the nation if people are
persuaded to take this step will be immense.'
Mike Kelly, Director of the Routes into Languages programme, said: ‘Learning 1000 words will be a
vaccination against the tongue-tied monolingualism that holds us back in the global world. And it is a
brilliant keep-fit exercise for the brain.’
ENDS
Notes
1. Speak to the Future is an initiative funded by the British Academy which aims to highlight
the importance of languages, language learning and professional language activities for the
UK. Targeting the public, media, government and policymakers, it intends to unify the nation
around a strong public message that every language counts and that English alone is not
enough. In addition to launching the 1000 words challenge, the campaign is working to
develop national accreditation mechanisms for community languages and targeting
Members of Parliament to raise awareness about the strategic value of languages.
www.speaktothefuture.org
2. The 1000 words campaign has been developed in response to the British Academy research
report Languages, the State of the Nation, which assessed the match of supply and demand
for language skills. This found that the UK was suffering from a growing deficit in language
skills and that, although language skills are needed at all levels in the workforce, not simply
by an internationally-mobile élite, language courses are seldom thought relevant to learners
with lower academic attainment. The survey may be downloaded from
http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/State_of_the_Nation_2013.cfm.
The key messages of the 1000 words campaign are that UK society and economic prospects
would be vastly transformed for the better if everyone had 1000 words of another language.
Competence in languages is beneficial to all, but you don’t have to be fluent.
The campaign objectives are to create a badge of commitment to making this vision a reality
and promote its widespread use amongst organisations and individuals committed to
achieving the vision. In this way the campaign seeks to raise public awareness about the
need for greater competence in languages and the value of all languages and to ground the
challenge in what is realistic and measurable.
The 1000 words target represents a level roughly equivalent to A2 on the Common
European Framework of Reference for languages.
3. The British Academy is the UK’s national body which champions and supports the
humanities and social sciences. In 2011, the British Academy launched a four-year
programme to deepen awareness and demonstrate the importance of language learning. It
is currently working with The Guardian raise the profile of language learning and showcase
its importance for the UK's wellbeing.
4. The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and
cultural relations. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other
countries and build trust between them worldwide.
We work in more than 100 countries and our 7000 staff – including 2000 teachers – work
with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year
teaching English, sharing the Arts and in education and society programmes.
We are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter. A publically-funded grant-in-aid provides
less than a quarter of our turnover which last year was £781m. The rest we earn from
English teaching, UK exams and services which customers around the world pay for, through
education and development contracts and from partnerships with other institutions, brands
and companies. All our work is in pursuit of our charitable purpose and creates prosperity
and security for the UK and the countries we work in all around the world.
5. Routes into Languages is a consortium of 80 universities across the UK, led by the Centre for
Languages Linguistics and Area Studies at the University of Southampton. It works with
schools to encourage more young people of all backgrounds to study languages at
university. The programme is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England
and has recently been awarded funding for a new 3-year programme starting in August
2013. www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk
6. The European Day of Languages is a joint European Commission and Council of Europe
initiative which has been celebrated on 26 September annually throughout Europe and
beyond since 2001. Lithuania, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union,
is hosting this year’s major international conference marking the occasion, entitled ‘Unity in
Diversity: languages for mobility, jobs and active citizenship. Further details are available
here http://www.multilingualism2013.lt/index_en.php?menu=home
Founder supporters:
Arsenal in the Community
Association for Language Learning (ALL)
Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)
Association of University Language Centres (AULC)
British Academy
British Council
CBI
Chartered Institute of Linguists
Comtec Translations
Curriculum Foundation
Education and Employers Task Force
English Pen
European Commission
German Embassy
Goethe Institut
Hotel La Place, London
Independent Schools’ Modern Languages Association (ISMLA)
Institut Français
Japan Foundation
Languages Company
Language Exchange Society
LLAS, University of Southampton
LSE Language Centre
National Association of Language Advisers (NALA)
National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC)
Network for Languages
Rosetta Stone
Routes into Languages
Spanish Embassy, Consejería de Educación
Swanwick Hall School, Derbyshire
Third Year Abroad
UK-German Connection
Universities Council of Modern Languages
Universities UK International Unit
University College London (UCL)
Whalley Range High School, Manchester
Alcantara Communications
For more information contact:
Mark Moulding, British Council
Teresa Tinsley, Alcantara Communications (Project Lead, 1000 words)
teresa@alcantaracoms.com
tel. 07818028021