International Mother Language Day is celebrated worldwide on February 21st. It celebrates the linguistic diversity of several cultures worldwide.
One of the main things that define a country and community’s culture is its language. It helps in building a different identity for every country. Language encompasses tradition, memory, and unique ways of expressing oneself as it is present in every component of our lives.
Sadly, as globalization spreads across the world, some languages are in danger of disappearing. International Mother Language Day was created to promote multilingualism and cultural diversity, and it aims to preserve all different languages as they are important symbols of identity and heritage for all cultures.
Why Language is Important
A person’s mother language is the first language that they learn. For many, it is the strongest connection that they have to their home, their identity, and culture.
The United Nations estimates a mother language disappears every two weeks. With it, an entire cultural heritage disappears as well. All the stories and oral tradition of one culture is gone.
Currently, only a few hundred languages are taught in schools and used in the public domain. Even fewer are commonly used on the internet, a place that most of us use daily, and it ends up influencing the languages that stay relevant.
Because of this, out of the estimated 6000 languages currently spoken in the world, 43% are endangered. They are deemed useless and replaced by the ones that are more widely spoken, which means that parents and educators don’t teach them to their children, which means that the languages won’t make it past this generation and will eventually die out.
International Mother Language Day promotes the teaching and learning of different languages and mother tongues, to encourage diversity and preserve the history of different cultures.
As a result, we learn about different traditions from all around the world, which inspires us to be more tolerant and understanding towards different people, different countries, and different cultures, and maybe even have fun and enjoy learning new languages too.
One of the purposes of this day is to promote multilingualism
Today Karara foods was part of a occasion to celebrate mother language day by the EMIC (ethnic minorities in Canterbury) along with the lord and lady mayoress joining us too. A lot of fun and celebrations by all.
And of course – great food!
