Assalamu Alaikum - European Night of Languages brings cultures together in Riyadh
Assalamu Alaikum - Alhamdulillah, the Hyatt Regency Riyadh was full of voices and smiles on Tuesday evening as more than 250 people attended the European Night of Languages, a yearly event celebrating Europe’s language diversity and its growing cultural ties with Saudi Arabia.
Now in its fifth year, the gathering was put together by the EU delegation in Saudi Arabia together with the Language Exchange Club, a Saudi nonprofit that works to build understanding between cultures and promote multilingualism.
The EU’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia spoke about how the EU supports language diversity and cultural exchange, and how those exchanges fit well within the cultural goals of Vision 2030 - ma sha' Allah, culture really is an important part of the change we’re seeing.
Guests could practice many European languages, meet diplomats and embassy teams, and visit displays from different EU member states. There were language stations offering short lessons in Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Ukrainian and Swedish.
To encourage two‑way learning, visitors and residents were also invited to try Arabic at a special booth. The night included live arts too - an oud performance and a concert by the Portuguese band Almanata were among the highlights.
The ambassador also pointed out that learning other languages helps reduce misunderstandings in our globalised world. If you make the effort to learn someone’s language, you’re less likely to fall into wrong assumptions and more likely to appreciate different people and cultures.
Attendees joined language games, trivia and quizzes, with free language courses given away as prizes. One memorable talk was by Saudi‑based British media figure John Bin London, who spoke about his journey learning Arabic and how language opens deeper human connections - beyond the usual gestures like Saudi coffee and sadu, people are more layered than that.
The evening was supported by organisations like Alliance Française, the Goethe‑Institut, Education First, SEK International School Riyadh, Teach Me Arabic Academy and Hyphen. Inspired by the European Day of Languages on Sept. 26, the Riyadh event aimed to promote linguistic variety, stronger intercultural bonds and lifelong language learning - Insha'Allah many more events like this will follow.
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