An idea that started in 2014 by the Greek Diaspora in Italy, became an institution in 2017 and is now embraced by Greeks in every corner of the world. “International Greek Language Day” is celebrated every year on February 9th, the day which also honors the memory of the Greek national poet Dionysios Solomos.
Voice of Greece, ERT’s global radio station, celebrates every year the International Greek Language Day with special broadcasts and tributes highlighting the events held in our Greek schools and communities around the world and highlighting the importance of spreading and preserving the Greek language.
More specifically:
Thursday, February 8th, 2024
– “Imprint” (12:00 – 13:00 Athens time) with Fuli Zavitsanou meets Dimitris Koutsogiannis, Deputy President of the Centre for the Greek Language (KEG) and Professor at the School of Philology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He will talk about KEG initiatives and actions in relation to learning and teaching Modern Greek abroad, about KEG’s research work but also about the importance of approaching Modern Greek without any normative constraints and ideological prejudices.
Friday, February 9th, 2024
– On “Our Global Voice” (08:00 – 09:00 Athens time), Petros Diplas and Dimitris Kontogiannis will host founding Director of the National Centre for Hellenic Studies and Research of La Trobe University in Melbourne and Professor, Anastasios M. Tamis, who will talk about the importance of Greek language from antiquity to the present day, including the various stages of its evolution.
On “Time in Greece” (09:00 – 10:00 Athens time), Nikos Angelidis presents Greek schools in remote areas of Greece and talks with residents and students from the island of Thymaina.
Nikoletta Tsitsanoudi Mallidi, Professor of Linguistics and Greek Language of the Department of Early Childhood Education of the University of Ioannina and Associate of CHS-GR of Harvard University, is invited on “Take Your Time” (10:00 – 12:00 Athens time) with Prokopis Angelopoulos. She will talk about the power and dynamics of the Greek language all over the world, through Greek communities, but also about the 10th International Summer University “Greek Language, Culture and Media”, which will take place at the Maliotis Cultural Center in Boston and is dedicated to the Greek-language education in America.
On “The voice That Unites Us” (14:00 – 15:00 Athens time), Gianna Triantafylli talks with former president of the Greek Community of Mariupol and teacher Nadia Tsapni, who will talk about teaching Greek language before the war in Mariupol and Odessa and the efforts they are making today to continue Greek lessons.
Saturday, February 10th
On “Remarkable Personalities” (16:00 – 17:00 Athens time) Mina Ralli’s guest is the Director of the Greek Department of SAHETI School in Johannesburg, Antonia Papazoglou. She will talk about the value of teaching Greek language and culture not only to Greek children but to all students without exception, as well as about the events organized at school, which is considered one of the best English-speaking schools in South Africa, where Greek language is a class taught to everyone.
Monday, February 12th
On “Faraway Words” (12:00 – 13:00 Athens time), Natasa Vissarionos hosts the Honorary Consul of Greece in Turin, Fivos Valachis, who will talk about the events co-organized for the International Greek Language Day by the Consulate of Greece in Turin, the Italian-Greek Cultural Organization Mikrokosmos and the branch of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture in Trieste.
It is worth noting that on the occasion of the International Greek Language Day, the following have already been hosted in the broadcasts of Voice of Greece in the previous days:
– Dr. Ioannis Korinthios, Professor of the University of Calabria, Historian and leading member of the Greek Diaspora in Italy for the events in Naples.
– Political cartoonist and comic book creator Soloup, who participates in celebrations of the Greek Diaspora of Toronto and Montreal.
– Eleni Griva, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Department of Primary Education – School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Western Macedonia University for the International Online Conference on Teaching Greek as a second or foreign language.
Johannesburg Educational Coordinator, Dr. Georgios Vlachos, about Greek-language education in South Africa.
