Poster
Friday, February 21 is International Mother Language Day declared by UNESCO in 1999. Events, workshops, and tweets on this date celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
Planeta.com has paid special attention to this celebration for years and challenge readers to translate ‘International Mother Language’ to other languages.
Hashtags: #MotherLanguageDay, #DiaDeLaLenguaMaterna, #dilm, #LenguaMaterna
Key Links
unesco.org/commemorations/motherlanguageday
Headlines
International Mother Language Day: Ensuring the use of Bangla across all spheres a timely ask – @DhakaTribune
Thunder Bay Public Library Helping Celebrate International Mother Language Day
Embedded Tweets
Background
UNESCO: “UNESCO believes in the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity for sustainable societies. It is within its mandate for peace that it works to preserve the differences in cultures and languages that foster tolerance and respect for others. Linguistic diversity is increasingly threatened as more and more languages disappear. Globally 40 percent of the population does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand. Nevertheless, progress is being made in mother tongue-based multilingual education with growing understanding of its importance, particularly in early schooling, and more commitment to its development in public life. Multilingual and multicultural societies exist through their languages which transmit and preserve traditional knowledge and cultures in a sustainable way.”
2020 Message
Local, cross-border languages can promote peaceful dialogue and help to preserve indigenous heritage. Speakers of Kiswahili across sub-Saharan Africa and Quechua in South America, for example, share a common culture with communities in neighboring countries.
Translating: International Mother Language Day
Spanish: Dia Internacional de la Lengua Materna
German: Internationaler Tag der Muttersprache
Zapotec (San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya): Chii Xte Dich ni Gul Niu (Day of the Language you were born with)
Ayöök: (Santa María Ocotepec): Ja xëë jöma ja aa ayöök yak jaa’myets
History
International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.
Elsewhere on the Web
A Language Party – languageparty.org – is a fresh and intimate style of gathering that celebrates the sea of languages spoken in our cities, towns, and neighborhoods. At any gathering, storytellers share tales in their mother tongue before interpreting into the main language of the audience. To date, language Parties have been held in Australia, Asia, North America, Europe, and Africa.
Comments
Sacuar: It’s a pity the translation of mother language day was not in bangla. The main reason behind 21st february being mother language day is History of bangla.
আমার ভাইয়ের রক্তে রাঙানো একুশে ফেব্রুয়ারী , আমি কি ভুলিতে পারি
Features
Planeta.com