National Consortium for Languages Education
UCL Institute of Education
Resources to help you celebrate European Day of Languages this Autumn!
Every year around 26th September, schools and communities across Europe come together to mark European Day of Languages (EDL), celebrating the extraordinary linguistic diversity of our continent.
We’ve collected some ready-made resources and links from NCLE partners and beyond, which you can pick from to take part in European Day of Languages.
Browse the pages below for ideas, activities and materials to bring EDL to life in your setting.
Click here for a downloadable and printable PDF version of this page.
Remember, you can celebrate EDL at any time, and throughout the Autumn term!
Reasons to celebrate European Day of Languages
EDL is a chance for your school to:
- Give every pupil a reason to feel proud of the languages they already speak at home and are learning in the classroom.
- Open pupils’ eyes to the wider world, building empathy, curiosity and respect for other cultures.
- Shine a light on the career paths that language skills can open up, from translation to international trade.
- Champion the cognitive, social and personal benefits of learning a language, whatever a pupil’s age or starting point.
2026: An especially good year to take part!
This year is a particularly good moment to celebrate, as the UK returning to Erasmus+, and there will be so many more opportunities for pupils, teachers and schools to connect with friends, colleagues and partners across Europe. EDL is a brilliant and easy way to celebrate this wider movement.
For everyone. Every child in every year group and every kind of setting – from EYFS story time to Key Stage 4 options evenings, from mainstream classrooms to SEND provision – has something to gain from taking part! A whole-school assembly, a single lesson, or a corridor display: there is a way to celebrate for everyone.
Browse the following opportunities, and let us know which ones you do!
Culture Days with European Languages (NCLE cultural partners)
Host a culture and language celebration with our free culture day package – a new resource developed by the Institut Français, the Consejería de Educación en el Reino Unido and the Goethe-Institut UK for NCLE! For primary and secondary.
Join the Writing Competition for European Day of Languages 2026 (Association for Language Learning, NCLE strategic partner)
This annual competition is for anyone of school age, anywhere in the country, writing in any language! Tying in with the UK Year of Reading to encourage young people to see the impact and power of writing a personal message to someone else, the 2026 theme is ‘A few words that mean so much’. Read more via this link to ALL.
Let’s Talk About Languages (British Council, NCLE consortium partner)
Designed for primary and secondary classrooms, these two resources introduce language learning to your pupils and help start a discussion with students around the value of language learning.
The Great Languages Challenge (British Council, NCLE consortium partner)
Help your pupils learn a language with our most popular classroom resource. Can be completed as a planned lesson or set as a language-themed homework task, or used to collaborate with an overseas partner school.
Where can languages take me? Online webinar resource (British Council, NCLE consortium partner)
Watch this webinar recording to find out more about how learning languages can help students in their future life and career. Can be watched on demand in the classroom, in an assembly or in self-directed work.
Where will languages take me? (British Council, NCLE consortium partner)
Inspire your secondary pupils to continue studying languages, or to choose languages as an option, with our videos and accompanying booklet.
Welcome to German and the German-speaking world (British Council, NCLE consortium partner)
Download these free resources to help you introduce German language and culture to primary and secondary students.
Celebrate Speaking (British Council, NCLE consortium partner)
Practise and celebrate a language your students are learning, or use in their community, and take part in a virtual festival of speaking! You can share your successes online and on social media (school policies permitting).
Join a special German event with the Goethe-Institut (NCLE Consortium partner)
The Goethe-Institut is running many different events for primary and secondary schools, from German Days to Careers Roadshows, Business Lunches, free Wuschel exhibition at your school, Young Goethe scheme, e-Space virtual exchange, and more!
Celebrate with a Goethe-Institut German Club (NCLE Consortium Partner)
No German knowledge and no specialist teacher required. Ready-to-use resources include fully planned sessions with interactive activities, media and age-appropriate challenges that make it easy to explore the German language and culture. Choose a single club session for the European Day of Languages or continue with regular German Club meetings throughout the year – it’s a fun and engaging way to spark students’ curiosity about languages.
French Passe la balle ! KS2-KS3 resource (Institut Français, NCLE cultural partner)
A series of 6 lesson plans bringing football, rap and creativity into the classroom, based on this year’s World Cup. A vous de jouer !
French: A Language of Opportunities Advocacy Toolkit (Institut Français, NCLE cultural partner)
Suitable for older pupils, this resource sets out how French can enlarge their career horizons, whichever branch they decide to study and work in.
Official EDL school resources and activities from ECML (official coordinator of the European Day of Languages across Europe).
A series of useful resources, activities, books, brochures, posters and results from previous years’ intiatives, from EDL’s official coordinator.
20, 40, 60, 80 things you might not know about the world of languages’ posters: ECML (official coordinator of the European Day of Languages across Europe).
A set of four downloadable, printable posters full of fun facts and figures about Europe’s languages. Available in English and 19 other languages!
An International Education Week primary school assembly (PDF, 136KB)
This assembly plan and resource is a wonderful opportunity to inspire pupils and get them excited about learning languages.
We hope you have a great time celebrating languages this European Day of Languages and throughout the Autumn term!
Don’t forget to connect with your local Learning Network lead school to keep in touch with other language teachers in your region.