RIYADH: Languages and laughter filled the Hyatt Regency Riyadh on Tuesday night as more than 250 guests joined the European Night of Languages, an annual celebration of Europe’s rich linguistic heritage and its growing cultural exchange with Saudi Arabia.
Now in its fifth year, the event was organized by the delegation of the EU to Saudi Arabia in partnership with the Language Exchange Club, a Saudi nonprofit that promotes intercultural understanding and multilingualism.
Christophe Farnaud, the EU’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told Arab News: “The EU has always been in favor of the diversity of languages and to promote exchanges … in the context of this new Saudi Arabia, that is now happening thanks to Vision 2030, culture is a very important element of it.”
The evening offered guests a chance to practice European languages, interact with ambassadors and diplomatic staff from the EU delegation, and see displays from EU member states’ embassies.
Language stations featured mini-lessons in Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Ukrainian and Swedish.
As part of the cultural exchange, expats were also invited to try their hand at Arabic in a dedicated learning booth. The event also featured live performances, including an oud recital and a concert by a Portuguese band Almanata.
Farnaud added: “It’s a way to trigger or strengthen an interest for other cultures, other languages, which nowadays are very much needed. We live in a world where globalization makes exchanges bigger, stronger, permanent, but then the risk of misunderstanding is also bigger.
“So, if you speak the language, if you accept to have this kind of intellectual discipline to try and understand other people better, who do not always speak your own language, then you will take this globalization as something very positive, with less risks.”
Guests took part in language-themed games, trivia and quizzes, with free language courses offered as prizes.
Among the evening’s highlights was a talk by Saudi-based British media personality John Bin London, who shared his journey learning Arabic.
Known for his fluent Najdi dialect and social media presence celebrating Arab culture, he spoke about the deeper human connections that language learning fosters.
He told Arab News: “I think by getting people together in one room, for them to be able to speak together, to talk — not just Saudis and English people, but people from Lithuania, Romania, France, Portugal, from wherever — they get that opportunity to sit down with people and really get to know them.
“This may start off as a brief introduction, but what then happens there on, giving them those real life experiences, taking it past the basics of Saudi culture, of Saudi coffee and sadu … people are a bit more nuanced than that, so having events like this is really important.”
The event was supported by Alliance Francaise, Goethe-Institut, Education First, SEK International School Riyadh, Teach Me Arabic Academy and Hyphen.
Inspired by the annual European Day of Languages, celebrated on Sept. 26 and jointly organized by the European Commission and the Council of Europe, the Riyadh event reflected the shared goal of promoting linguistic diversity, strengthening intercultural understanding and encouraging lifelong language learning.
