International Mother Language Day celebrated on 21 February is established at the initiative of UNESCO
International Mother Language Day is announced in 1999 by the decision of the 30th session of the General Conference of UNESCO. It is aimed at protecting extinct languages. The problem is relevant. One language has got extinct every two weeks in the world. In the modern world, there are about 6 thousand languages. One of the reasons for the languages extinction is the uneven distribution by the number of speakers. The language will get extinct if it is spoken by less than 100 thousand people.
A prerequisite for the Mother Language Day emergence was the tragedy at the Bangladesh University of Dhaka in 1952. Students gathered a rally about the recognition of the Bengali language as a state language. The authorities did not heed the requests of young people, there was the shooting and as the result four students died. The situation received a global public impact, the state bodies had to recognize the Bengali language at the legislative level. This struggle has influenced the UNESCO to establish the International Mother Language Day, which has been celebrated by the world since 2000.
This day is the day when libraries, universities and schools all around the world hold meetings with writers, give educational lectures, hold conferences, seminars, exhibitions, festivals. Various language events and presentations are organized at UNESCO headquarters in Paris and its affiliates, and festive concerts are organized. Thematic classes are held at educational institutions. Competitions are held among native language experts. The articles on existing and extinct languages are published in the media. International Mother Language Day is observed every year in order to promote linguistic and cultural diversity, in order to support the languages and culture of small indigenous peoples.
There are currently 136 languages are in danger of extinction in Russia according to UNESCO, and 20 have already been declared extinct. There is a need for systematic scientific support for endangered languages. This is done by linguists and philologists. The celebration of Mother Language Day involves people who study and transmit knowledge about the language: the teachers of literature and language, the researchers writing systems, the library staff, students, teachers and graduate students of philological faculties of higher educational institutions, and people interested in linguistics.
The Department of UNESCO, the Institute of International Affairs, the Departments of the Russian Language and Foreign Languages and the library for which this holiday is professional work at NSUACE (Sibstrin). These departments by their activities prove the need to improve the Russian language at the technical university. They hold exhibitions, lectures, quizzes, dictations, tests, classes in the Russian language and conferences.
We all should remember the purity and beauty of our native language. We should not clutter, simplify or debase the language. Thus the preservation of the language is a necessary condition for the preservation of culture, humanism and the further progressive developments of mankind.
The material was prepared by the Department of the Russian Language
