Book on Gibraltarians’ language journeys presented to local schools

The Minister for Education and for Heritage, Dr John Cortes, recently attended the Multilingual Gibraltar event, where the organisation presented copies of the book Gibraltarians and their language: 22 linguistic biographies to all secondary and upper primary schools, as well as Gibraltar College.

The book, published by the University of Vigo, was launched at the Second Gibraltar International Conference hosted by the university in July. It features an anthology of linguistic biographies by contemporary Gibraltarians of different ages, sharing their personal bilingual or multilingual experiences. The publication was developed by Professor Elena Seoane and her research team, in collaboration with internationally recognised Gibraltarian author Mark Sanchez.

During the presentation to local educators, Manuel Enriles and Dale Buttigieg of Multilingual Gibraltar highlighted the growing issue of language loss among young Gibraltarians. They stressed the importance of addressing this with urgency.

They explained that restricting communication with children to English alone could deprive them of the many benefits enjoyed by older generations, including enhanced cognitive abilities, delayed onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s, and improved career prospects.

The organisation emphasised the crucial role of education in addressing language loss and encouraged schools to maintain a multilingual environment for their pupils. They suggested promoting communication beyond English where possible, introducing pupils to Gibraltarian literature in Llanito, English, and Spanish, and informing parents of the advantages of raising children as multilingual speakers.

Dr Cortes expressed his full support for the work carried out by Multilingual Gibraltar and for the safeguarding of all languages commonly used in Gibraltar.

The association publicly thanked Dr Cortes for his continued support since its formation, acknowledging his willingness to listen to and act on their proposals. In recognition of his support for multilingualism in the community, the association presented him with a coffee mug inscribed with the phrase: “Life begins dehpue d’un kafelito.”