MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY
No embargo
February 18 2015
How many mother tongues are spoken by your whānau, friends, neighbours and colleagues? Why not celebrate International
Mother Language Day and make their day by phoning, sending an email or text or calling over the back fence to say ‘Hi’
in their mother tongue.
International Mother Language Day has been celebrated since 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity.
UNESCO set the date of 21 February to remember the day in 1952 when student protestors in Dhaka, now the capital of
Bangladesh, were killed when demonstrating for their Bangla language to be the national language of their country.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the 2013 census shows we are now a ‘super diverse’ country, with hundreds of languages spoken
here.
The dissemination of mother tongues encourages linguistic diversity and multilingual education. It also develops greater
international awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions and inspires solidarity based on understanding, tolerance
and dialogue.
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes
to his heart.” Nelson Mandela.
Visit: www.tesolanz.org.nz for a poster you can use in your workplace, or send it to your networks
Check out: www.wikihow.com/Say-Hello-in-Different-Languages
Read about International Mother Language Day: www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday
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