Language Day
Also referred to as “International Mother Language Day”, Language Day is a bespoke holiday that’s observed globally every February 21.
Conceptualized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1999 and first observed in 2000, it was initiated as a way to honor to the circa-1950s Bengali Language Movement, which sought for the recognition of Bengali as the official language of Bangladesh.
The date was chosen to commemorate the day when then-East Bengal fought for the recognition of the Bengali language, and as a day that’s recognized by the United Nations, it is part of a broader initiative “to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world”.
In celebrating Language Day, the United Nations believes in the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity for sustainable societies, and sets the day as one which recognizes that multilingual and multicultural societies exist through their languages, which transmit and preserve cultural traditions.
Recognizing that linguistic diversity is increasingly threatened as more and more languages disappear, the day also stresses on why preserving traditional languages matter.
UNESCO cites that 40% of the global population does not have access to educational curriculums or materials that’re written in a language that they speak, but also notes that progress in relation to multilingual education has been ongoing – particularly in early schooling.
In stressing on the importance of why valuing a language matters, the sentiments of South African comedian and TV host Trevor Noah is often brought up.
Taken from his book “Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood”, it goes: “Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it.”
“A shared language says, ‘We’re the same.’ A language barrier says, ‘We’re different.’ The great thing about language is that you can just as easily use it to do the opposite, convince people that they are the same.”
“Racism teaches us that we are different because of the color of our skin, but because racism is stupid, it’s easily tricked. If you’re a racist and you meet someone who doesn’t look like you, the fact that he can’t speak like you reinforces your racist preconceptions.”
“He’s different, less intelligent. A brilliant scientist can come over the border from Mexico to live in America, but if he speaks in broken English, people say, ‘Hey, I don’t trust this guy.’ ‘But he’s a scientist.’ ‘Yeah, in Mexican science maybe. I don’t trust him.’”
“However, if the person who doesn’t look like you speaks like you, your brain short-circuits because your racism program has none of those instructions in the code.”
“‘Wait, wait,’ your mind says, ‘The racism code says if he doesn’t look like me, he isn’t like me, but the language code says if he speaks like me, he is like me. Something is off here. I can’t figure this out.”
Though it is not explicitly underscored, the codification of Language Day stands by Noah’s views, which augments the day’s reason for being.