Romanian city wins Piccolingo award for children's early language learning.
Cluj-Napoca in Romania was named today as the winner of the first-ever 'Piccolingo in Action' contest, which promotes foreign language learning by pre-school children. The contest is part of a multilingualism campaign spearheaded by Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou.
Cities in ten countries (Germany, Spain, Italy, Romania, Belgium, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Cyprus) took part in the contest, organising a variety of events to raise awareness of the benefits of early language learning. "I would like to congratulate Cluj-Napoca for its commitment to early foreign language learning," said Commissioner Vassiliou. "Through the campaign, we hope to encourage more parents to involve their children in multilingual activities. Children who start learning languages when they are young pick them up more easily and studies show this can also help them in other subjects like maths." In 2011, four more Member States have joined the Piccolingo initiative: the UK, Greece, Portugal and Hungary. Piccolingo campaign for early foreign language learning website; Q&A for parents; Commissioner Vassiliou's website (contact: Dennis Abbott +32 2 295 92 58 -+32 498 95 92 58)
