Ioannis Ikonomou, a translator for the European Commission and the most multi-lingual person in the European Union, was one of the speakers at the Multi-lingualism in Europe held from Sept. 27-28 in Cyprus, where it was urged that people learn as many languages as they can.
Ikonomou was born in Irakleio, Crete. He studied linguistics at the University of Thessaloniki before pursuing an MA in Middle Eastern languages and cultures at Columbia University in New York. Ikonomou speaks 32 languages and has been working since 2002 as a translator for the European Commission.
Within the conference, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism & Youth, Androula Vassileiou, a Cypriot, presented the awards with the European Languages Label to five works from Belgium, Italy, Lithuania, Norway and Romania promoting the teaching and learning of European languages.
Vassileiou noted that that lingual diversity is an asset for the EU and all parts should try to bring the younger generations closer to learning as many languages as possible. Moreover, the European Commissioner underlined that the efforts to teach at least two more languages beside the mother-tongue to all children within the EU.
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