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| Sunday, 19 February 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Celebrate your mother language What is your mother language? It may be Sinhala, Tamil, English, Arabic or even Malay. Isn't it amazing that so many different languages are spoken by people as their mother tongue, even in a tiny country such as ours? A language is a means of communication, and an expression of culture and identity. Did you know that over 6,000 different languages are spoken around the world today? It is this diversity that is celebrated on February 21, when the world observes International Mother Language Day. The Day was proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in November 1999, and was first commemorated in 2000. Since then, the event has been observed by UNESCO headquarters and its member states annually, to promote linguistic and cultural diversity. Languages are at the heart of UNESCO's objectives, and are powerful instruments of preserving and developing the heritage of a country. It hopes that the moves to promote dissemination of mother tongues will encourage linguistic diversity, multi-lingual education, develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world, and inspire solidarity, based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue. The Day is said to be mostly an international recognition of the Language Martyr's Day, which had been commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952, when many Bengali-speakers were killed. |
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