Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights
Nordic Reach › Vol. 21 Nbr. 25, September 2008 › What Where When Who
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Summary
The Nordic Youth Council (UNR = Ungdomens Nordlska Råd) decided earlier this year to use English as its working language whenever it s not possible to understand each other in one of the Nordic languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic). The decision was heavily criticized recently by Bertel Haarder, the Danish Minister of Education, who pointed out that the decision works against the Nordic Language Declaration. "Using English at their meetings is completely out of the question. It is incompatible with the very concept of Nordic co-operation," Haarder told the Danish paper Politiken. The content of the work and the debates in the Nordic Youth Council must be more important than the language being used, argues Lisbeth Sejer Gotzsche, President of unr. "Since understanding neighboring languages isn't a priority in the Nordic education systems, youngsters find it increasingly necessary to communicate in English so they are able to understand each other at all," says Gotzsche.
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Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights
The Nordic Youth Council (UNR = Ungdomens Nordlska Råd) decided earlier this year to use English as its working language whenever it s not possible to understand each other...
See the full content of this document
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