A lingua franca, also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language is any language used for communication between people who do not share a native language. It can refer to languages which are native to one nation (often a colonial power) but used as a second language for communication between diverse language communities in a colony or former colony. The term lingua franca was first coined in the beginning of the 17th century by the Italians. At that time, it represented a conglomeration of mostly Italian, with a smattering of French, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, Greek, and Arabic, and was used primarily as the language of commerce. The term literally means “Frankish language”, as “Frank” was a common designation for all western Europeans since approximately the 12th century.
Today, English is a common lingua franca across the globe. According to some estimates, almost 80 percent of English speakers in the world are non-native speakers. (Although you can’t get by on just English in all countries).
It is easy to notice the undeniable importance of English language in our lifes. The will to raise awarness of it made us organise a celebratation of English Language Day on 23’rd of April.
We’ve stared the preparation with brainstorming about the activities we could organise and then we were ready to bring the project into reality. During the first week we planned ahead the dates of each article, video, radio spot, radio broadcast and the most significant – activity. As we had everything planned we were ready to start the action.
Our first job was to write a script, promoting English Language Day, for the radio spot which we later recored in our radio. As a new volunteer I was not as familiar with radio equipment as other volunteers but luckily I got the opportunity to work with more experienced one – Karolin. After few attempts and some time of editing the radio spot was ready and could be played in our Radio – Rodon FM.
After the promotion we were working on the arictles informing about the origin of English language and its relations to William Shakespeare. Moreover, we added some fun facts concering the language and some tounge twisters to keep the readers interested. When all was ready we were just waiting for the perfect time to post them, which was around the official celebration date.
Next up, we had a radio broadcast. It was my first time broadcasting live so I was a bit stressed at first but after few minutes I realised it was not as scary as I thought. The broadcast contained of music produced by British artists only which was mixed with short inserts about English Language Day celabration. It was very interesting experience and I was glad to be able to choose my own radio playlist.
On 23rd of April we organised an online class for local students. Considering their age, which was around 10 years old, we had to adjust the content to their level. We prepared a presenatation about the English Language Day and at the end we encouraged them to take part in quiz checking how much they manager to remember. Thankfully, kids were eager to participate and in case of any misunderstandings the teacher was always on the alert to help us. At first we could assume that proceeiding the online class wouldn’t be an easy task but as it turned out, it went pretty smoth. What was the most important – the students gained some knowledge about this essential language for people all over the world in entertaining and understandable way.
To sum up our campaign, we recorded a video enclosing parts of our work, mainly school and radio activities and some information about the event.
In conclusion, I must say that even regarding the pandemic restrictions that brought us a few problems, I am satisfied with the outcome of our campaign. I hope that poeple will remember the importance of English as lingua franca and will always be brave to speak up even while not being a nativie speaker. Let’s appreciate the fact of being multicultural community and exchange the experiences from all over the world, thanks to English language indeed.
Today, English is a common lingua franca across the globe. According to some estimates, almost 80 percent of English speakers in the world are non-native speakers. (Although you can’t get by on just English in all countries).
It is easy to notice the undeniable importance of English language in our lifes. The will to raise awarness of it made us organise a celebratation of English Language Day on 23’rd of April.
We’ve stared the preparation with brainstorming about the activities we could organise and then we were ready to bring the project into reality. During the first week we planned ahead the dates of each article, video, radio spot, radio broadcast and the most significant – activity. As we had everything planned we were ready to start the action.
Our first job was to write a script, promoting English Language Day, for the radio spot which we later recored in our radio. As a new volunteer I was not as familiar with radio equipment as other volunteers but luckily I got the opportunity to work with more experienced one – Karolin. After few attempts and some time of editing the radio spot was ready and could be played in our Radio – Rodon FM.
After the promotion we were working on the arictles informing about the origin of English language and its relations to William Shakespeare. Moreover, we added some fun facts concering the language and some tounge twisters to keep the readers interested. When all was ready we were just waiting for the perfect time to post them, which was around the official celebration date.
Next up, we had a radio broadcast. It was my first time broadcasting live so I was a bit stressed at first but after few minutes I realised it was not as scary as I thought. The broadcast contained of music produced by British artists only which was mixed with short inserts about English Language Day celabration. It was very interesting experience and I was glad to be able to choose my own radio playlist.
On 23rd of April we organised an online class for local students. Considering their age, which was around 10 years old, we had to adjust the content to their level. We prepared a presenatation about the English Language Day and at the end we encouraged them to take part in quiz checking how much they manager to remember. Thankfully, kids were eager to participate and in case of any misunderstandings the teacher was always on the alert to help us. At first we could assume that proceeiding the online class wouldn’t be an easy task but as it turned out, it went pretty smoth. What was the most important – the students gained some knowledge about this essential language for people all over the world in entertaining and understandable way.
To sum up our campaign, we recorded a video enclosing parts of our work, mainly school and radio activities and some information about the event.
In conclusion, I must say that even regarding the pandemic restrictions that brought us a few problems, I am satisfied with the outcome of our campaign. I hope that poeple will remember the importance of English as lingua franca and will always be brave to speak up even while not being a nativie speaker. Let’s appreciate the fact of being multicultural community and exchange the experiences from all over the world, thanks to English language indeed.
Kasia Kuperska
Kasia is a Polish volunteer in Praxis organisation involved in the World English Day campaign.
