Dear Mundolingua diaspora !!

Rather than a Happy New Year, we would like to wish you all a Better New Year ! I have no idea just how easy that will be – I am pleased to announce that despite the terror perpetrated in Paris in November 2015, falling numbers of tourists and school groups forbidden to go out or only using the very expensive private transport, we had a slight increase in the number of visitors and we are gradually moving towards a financial balance. Let us hope that numbers increase again in 2017 – do not hesitate to tell people about our unusual space – word of mouth is the best form of marketing.
Since our last new year wishes, probably another 20 languages have disappeared and I would like to encourage the use of Linguadiversity as a term rather than linguistic diversity, mainly because it will put the issue on a pedestal with “biodiversity” – it is all very well saving the planet but what is the point if we lose all the cultures on it.  Yes, I know I am taking a position which is not something we generally do at Mundolingua but I do see the museum’s role as one of sensitizing the public to the grand variety that exists in language/languages and therefore what we might lose if it all disappears. We have no ready solution to the problem but we do encourage all our school groups still coming through to try and respect all languages equally, not just the traditionally prestigious ones. This is certainly one major step in the right direction I believe.
On a less philosophical tone some of the new things at the museum recently – a new proverbs game, a game matching city names with their demonyms (adjectives of the city) and we are about to launch a new quiz like the phono quiz on the ground floor with the big wooden cubes downstairs in the languages section – guessing the languages based on written texts (the first article of the declaration of human rights).
We hosted most successfully our first birthday party a couple of weeks ago and hope to launch guided games sessions for groups in Spring. (our little booklet of games has 34 games now of all levels of age). More...