John Culatto
“MULTILINGUALISM is part of what makes Gibraltar”, its culture minister told a new group that wants to promote the benefits of speaking different languages.
John Cortes met up with John Manuel Enriles and Dale Buttigieg who founded the Gibraltar Multilingual Society (GMS) recently.
The Minister for Culture said he ‘fully supports’ the initiative.
The two GMS founders believe in the need to continue speaking more than one language on the Rock.
They discussed possible activities and events to promote multilingualism on the Rock with cultural employees.
“Multilingualism is part of what makes Gibraltar,” Cortes said.
“It is important socially, professionally and economically and benefits mental health and ability and creativity.
“We have an obligation to do all we can to protect our ‘llanito’ as well as to ensure that we take the opportunity that our community offers us to be able to work professionally in more than one language.
“My teams at Culture and Education share this commitment,” he added.
The new group’s founding follows a visit to Gibraltar by academics from the University of Valladolid.
They researched the bilingual culture on the Rock by interviewing adults to see how their brain worked.
Multilingual people have better concentration and better attention, a Harvard University study showed.
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