Soon you will be able to order stamps in French, get directions in Italian or buy sausages in German, all without leaving Kildare town.
The town has been selected by the European Commission for a new European languages project starting in September, which involves re-creating the sight, sound and atmosphere of different European towns. The replica main street will be constructed in the Kildare Education Centre and will include a post office, Internet cafe, tourist office and variety of shops.
Language assistants from the various countries will staff the shops and people will be invited to take a walk through the street and practise their European languages while going through the motions of making transactions.
Traditional street games, music and parties will be held to highlight the different European traditions.
Similar projects will be run in other countries. A town square will be re-created in Austria while a language train will travel across the Netherlands with each carriage using a different language.
The Kildare Education Centre was chosen because of the pilot modern languages programme it is running for primary schools.
"We would encourage everyone to come and enjoy the experience and see how languages have a practical use," said Ms Marie Heraughty, project officer for the European Year of Languages.
"The project will run from September to December but I think it has the potential to develop into something more long term."
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