The Celebration of Mother Tongues: 21st February Around the World

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Weekend Independent

Friday, 17 February 2012

Author / Source : Ishtiaque Hossain

It might seem incredible to our readers, but Bangladesh is not the only country that celebrates International Mother Language Day on 21st February. Although we remain unrivalled in the passion felt for our mother tongue, other countries and ethnic groups all over the world celebrate the diversity of their languages on 21st February. According to the UNESCO statistics, every 14 days a language dies. Celebrating International Mother Language Day is an opportunity to promote and protect cultural and linguistic diversity. It is estimated that almost half of over 6,000 languages in use worldwide are in danger of disappearing. Because language is so strongly linked to culture, losing a language also implies the disappearance of a culture’s means of expression. For small ethnic groups and minorities across the world, International Mother Language Day is a powerful tool in their quest to preserve their language and cultural heritage. That’s what this holiday is all about; protecting one’s culture and mother tongue and upholding it with pride. On this day, the whole world pays homage to the martyrs of 1952, by celebrating their mother tongues and dwelling on the importance of preserving it. Here are a few interesting ethnic groups and organizations who celebrate 21st February with almost as much enthusiasm as we do.

Yunnan Province, China
Other than Bangladeshis, few other races can match the Chinese people’s passion for their mother tongue and culture. Yunnan Province, home of the biggest number of ethnic groups in China; celebrates International Mother Language day with almost as much gusto and spirit as we do. They have been doing so ever since 2006, when the government publicly declared International Mother Language Day as a powerful way to raise awareness towards preserving the ancient Chinese tongues. On their first observance of 21st February, the government took an initiative to implement many successful practices on bi/multi-lingual education that would enable different ethnic groups to preserve their mother languages. Last year’s celebrations were held in the Kunming City of Yunnan Province. The Seminar brought together over 200 participants, among which around 40 were senior representatives from the Ministry of Education, Education Departments of various provinces and autonomous regions, diplomatic missions, universities, research institutes and NGOs. Participants shared their experience and lessons learnt in multilingual education and held in-depth discussion on issues, including protection and development of ethnic languages, support to multilingual teachers, protecting tangible and intangible heritages, etc. A small scale exhibition was organized during the celebration to display and share publications, papers and other materials on language diversity and education.

Cambodia and UNESCO
Cambodia is a leader in the Southeast Asia region in using ethnic minority languages in community education, and in recent years has begun to use languages like Phnong, Kreung, Tampoun and Kawait in pre-primary and primary school programmes. Khmer is the official national language of Cambodia and spoken by more than 95 per cent of the population. Yet there are around 20 languages spoken in the country. As an example of progress made, every year since 2010 the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport celebrate International Mother Language Day by raising awareness for the cause of preserving the languages of their minorities. Every year the Ministry of Education host a seminar and implement new guidelines to improve and update bilingual education for non-Khmer speakers in Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Stung Treng, Preah Vihear and Kratie, the five provinces with the highest number of indigenous communities. As Richard Bridle, UNICEF’s Representative in Cambodia, stated, “The aim is to ensure equitable access to education for highland children, many of whom have not had an opportunity to attend school, or who repeat classes, fail or drop out because they do not understand the teaching in Khmer”. These ethnic groups celebrate their language by taking out colorful processions of their alphabets in intriguing colorful calligraphy, plays that portray the importance of mother tongues concerts depicting traditional songs and poetry.
Tibetans and the SFT
Fighting for Tibetan language rights, the Students for Free Tibet (SFT) have been celebrating International Mother Language day over a decade. Students for Free Tibet is a student organization that among other things, raises awareness to preserve the Tibetan language and culture.  Last year, they organized a Tibetan play on to demonstrate the importance preserving Tibetan language. Tenzin Choedon, Director of Indian Chapter of SFT, said that such an activity was important “to show our support and solidarity with our fellow Tibetans who were fighting for the Tibetan language rights in Tibet.” After the play, the members of SFT took out a long and colourful procession carrying banners and festoons depicting the alphabets of their language, not unlike the processions we hold on 21st February ourselves.

Ukrainians and the Bangladesh Embassy in Ukraine
An exotic and cheerful multicultural crowd gather at the Bangladeshi Embassy of Ukraine every year to celebrate International Mother Language Day through song, dance and poetry.  Bangladeshi saris, Ukrainian embroidered clothing, African golden dresses, and Russian red sarafans represent the diversity of the participants of the daylong festivities. Every culture adds its own unique essence to this small but magical celebration in Ukraine every year. Different ethnic groups perform patriotic songs, poetry and traditional dances from their homelands. None as exciting as the traditional Paraguayan “dance with a bottle”. In this dance, five bottles are put on the head of a dancer one on the top of the other and the dancer continues to move with other dancers on the stage. The ceremony ends with the audience teaching each other about the ways of their culture and language.
Because of the global economic crisis, many countries are now trying to tighten and regulate their job markets. While different governments are speaking less about the value of globalization and are expressing more concerns about migrants. In the era of globalization, it is now more critical than ever to build relationships, find mutual understanding and respect differences. The International Mother Language Day is one of the initiatives to remind the global citizen that diversity is an important source of strength - economic, cultural and spiritual.