In 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) created International Mother Language Day, which is celebrated each year on 21 February. Of course, we couldn't let this date go by without marking the occasion on our Northern Sotho and isiZulu Living Dictionaries. This year, we asked people from a variety of mother tongues to let us know what their native language means to them, and this is what they had to say.
The post What does your mother language mean to you? appeared first on OUPblog.
International Mother Language Day is observed every year on the 21st of February. UNESCO officially proclaimed the day in 1999 with the aim to promote “linguistic diversity and multilingual education” and to develop the “awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions all over the world” thereby inspiring “international solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue”. Language is so much more than just a means of communication. “Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage.”
We want to raise more awareness about the International Mother Language Day and see it celebrated all over the world, both in families, organizations and communities as well as on a national and global level, thereby promoting understanding, tolerance and dialogue. Something that we are in dire need of in today’s world. Check out these IMLD-related posts:
Rita Rosenback from Multilingual Parenting has a gorgeous post about this special holiday: International Mother Language Day 2015 – #IMLD
The wildly talented Daria from Making Multicultural Music has a wonderful post on how to Learn Some Basic Quechua Through Song For International Mother Language Day (IMLD)
A Child’s Life In The Andes from Teachers Pay Teachers
The Scrambled Nest asks the question: How are you helping your kids become global citizens?
Bilingual teens and young adults (#IMLD 2015) via @expatsincebirth
What is the value of a language? A new doc Language Matters looks at what we lose when we lose a language.
Join the campaign by visiting and liking the International Mother Language Day Celebration Facebook page and by sharing the daily posts through social media in the run-up to the day. The Facebook page will be a treasure trove of quotes, pictures, links to posts, articles, and activities to do with mother tongue, language, multilingualism, education, multiculturalism and diversity. Use the #IMLD hashtag to find others’ messages on social media and share them.
The post Weekend Links-International Mother Language Day Round Up (IMLD) appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
It’s Thursday evening in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. I am late for an appointment to see my friend Shimanto (lit. boundary [Sanskrit]). On the street I shout ‘ei mama jaben?' (Hey uncle, will you go? [Bangla]) to catch an auto-rickshaw (auto [English] man-powered-wheeler [Japanese]). After striking the deal, I sit inside the three-wheeler. As the young driver speeds up almost hitting passers-by and curses ‘jyam khub kharap!' (Traffic jam [English] is very bad! [Persian]), I recollect the writing at the back of the car: ‘allāḥ sarvaśaktimān' (God [Arabic] almighty [Sanskrit]).
The post Celebrating linguistic diversity on International Mother Language Day appeared first on OUPblog.
The United Nations’ International Mother Language Day has been celebrated annually on February 21st, the anniversary of the Bengali Language Movement, since 2000. It is a time when people across the world join efforts to remember the power of language to preserve our cultures, and to raise awareness of the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity and multilingual education.
Organized for the occasion of this year’s IMLD, and in the framework of the 2010 International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures
, an
International Symposium on Translation and Cultural Mediation is happening today and tomorrow at the UNESCO House in Paris, covering themes such as “Bridging Global and Local Languages”, “Translation and Cultural Mediation” and “Translation, Mutual Understanding and Stereotypes”. Information sessions on languages and multilingualism will include one on the
New Atlas of Endangered Languages, and a presentation entitled “Technology and the Mother Tongue” Friend or Foe?”.
In her official message as Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova speaks about the importance of language to create inclusion and promote peace:
Languages are the best vehicles of mutual understanding and tolerance. Respect for all languages is a key factor for ensuring peaceful coexistence, without exclusion, of societies and all of
their members.
Multilingualism, the learning of foreign languages and translation are three strategic axes for the language policies of tomorrow. On the occasion of this 11th International Mother Language Day, I am appealing to the international community to give the mother language, in each of these three axes, its rightful, fundamental place, in a spirit of respect and tolerance which paves the way for peace.
As IMLD grows in importance each year, more and more countries organize educational and cultural events, such as Endangered Languages Week, in the UK. Another example of a country that is embracing IMLD’s goals is Serbia, which, according to UNESCO’s website, will be marking the occasion this week by devoting one lesson in every school to mother languages.
For an an overview of UNESCO’s work on languages in all its areas of competencies, click here.
