SELSI – Spoken Easy Language for Social Inclusion is a European project
aiming to produce guidelines for spoken language that is easy to understand.
The second multiplier event took place in Riga, Latvia October 19, 2023.
Ulla Bohman is on the Advisory Board for the project and was asked to give a keynote
about Accessible Communication and Inclusion.
Inclusion is a society for all. Inclusion is democracy in its true meaning.
To participate in society is a human right. But to be able to participate,
information and communication must be accessible.
It has to be easy to read and to understand.
This also includes the spoken language.
Ulla asked the participants if they had read the fairytale The Emperor’s New Clothes.
She pointed out that we all have something to learn from the little boy
who finally says that the emperor is naked.
We don’t always understand the words other people use.
Sometimes people speak with difficult words
to hide their own shortcomings.
Sometimes it’s because of ignorance.
Too seldom we tell the speaker: I don’t understand.
We all need to learn more about spoken easy language
and get more confident to say: Use easier words, please!
The language, the words are a tool for communication.
If used in a good way, we can start a dialogue and dialogues
are communication at its best.
The event was followed by +100 participants in the room and online.
