International Mother Language Day (Feb 21)
by Ronnee Ruselle
You've heard of multiculturalism? Well this is to recognize multilingualism. This day has been recognized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) since 2000. UNESCO believes that "*Mother languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage" so any moves to encourage linguistic diversity while maintaining the mother language are applauded.
Each time a language is lost, an incredible amount of information and understanding of the past is lost with it particularly as writing is still fairly recent in human history and most of our information from the past has been passed on through speech. It's important to recognize the Mother tongue of different peoples and to celebrate the rich diversity of languages we have. They represent human genius and how we've grown as a race over the course of our history.
On 21 February each year, the world's nearly 6000 languages are celebrated in an event aimed at promoting linguistic diversity and multilingual education. It is also an opportunity to develop a fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based upon understanding, tolerance and dialogue.
Did you know...? More than half of the 7000 languages spoken in the world are in danger of disappearing. Yet, they are an essential part of people's identity. (From the UNESCO Courier - see link below.)
Perhaps there's something that you can do with your local school, library or organization to help recognize and celebrate your mother language or perhaps the language of another.
In 2008, the International Year of Languages was formally launched on International Mother Language Day. Find out more here.
*http://webworld.unesco.org/imld/