Days of Languages in the Ruhr
Discussion / Photo: Marion Nelle
How do people whose families immigrated to the region experience their linguistic biographies? And how does their individual multilingualism impact their everyday lives? Those are among the questions addressed by a linguistics project of the universities of Bochum, Bonn and Duisburg-Essen.
The Ruhr is full of people who immigrated from countries all over the world. While they may have initially come primarily in order to work, they also brought with them the customs, habits and practices of their homelands - and their languages.
Researchers and students of the universities of Bochum, Bonn and Duisburg-Essen have interviewed a range of young people who have grown up bilingually and thereby created their individual "language biographies". Those interviewed talked about the intense emotions and the everyday experiences they share with speaking the two languages that have become very much a part of them. This bilingualism has several dimensions: In school, at work and with German friends, German may act as someone's first language. In other situations - for example with families and friends with ties to the old country or in religious organizations - these same people may primarily use their second language, the one spoken by their immigrant ancestors.
Besides German, many residents of the Ruhr also speak Polish or Russian, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese, Turkish, Arab or Dutch. All of these languages are included in the project. The research results will be presented at a two-day conference at the Ruhr University Bochum.
The Days of Languages in the Ruhr are supported by renowned regional scientists, and representatives of communities and religious organizations from the Ruhr.
October 14 - 15, 2010, 9 am - 6 pm
Ruhr University Bochum, Event Center, Room VZ Saal 2a
Admission is free and open to the public