International Mother Language Day

UNESCO

Languages are who we are. By protecting them, we protect ourselves", - said UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova. To recognize the importance of linguistic diversity, the UNESCO General Conference proclaimed International Mother Language Day in November 1999. Every year since then UNESCO has celebrated International Mother Language Day on February 21. Each year UNESCO chooses a theme to focus on. The theme for 2012 is ‘Mother tongue instruction and inclusive education,’ bringing more attention to the many people around the world who don’t have the opportunity to receive an education in their own language.

Intended to help promote awareness and use of various mother tongues, celebrations include presentations on various languages, and on linguistic and cultural topics. In places all around the world local communities celebrate International Mother Language Day, and give people an opportunity to learn more about other languages and cultures.

Each year the Linguapax Prize is also awarded. The Linguapax Prize is an award for promoting linguistic diversity, perhaps the only award of its type in existence. The 2012 Linguapax Prize was awarded to Jon Landaburu for his role in helping revitalize the linguistic heritage of Colombia.

International Mother Language Day originated in Bangladesh. Bangladesh celebrated Language Movement Day in commemoration of university students who died in Dhaka on February 21, 1952 during the Bengali Language Movements. UNESCO initiated International Language Day as an international recognition of Language Movement Day, and to promote linguistic and cultural diversity.

-A world without words?

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/a_world_without_words_celebrating_international_mother_language_day/

http://www.unesco.org

http://www.linguapax.org/en/linguapax-award

http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/

Te Pito O Te Henua - The Navel of The World

Easter Island, a small island in the Southeastern Pacific, is perhaps most famous for its Moai. The Giant stone heads found on Easter Island are easily recognized around the world. But the Moai are not the only things unique to Easter Island.

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is the only known Polynesian culture to develop its own writing system. Known as Rongorongo script, the Rapa Nuian script may be one of only 3 or 4 independent developments of a written language.

Few samples of Rongorongo writing have survived to date. Museums and Linguists have collected the few samples of the writing and studied them extensively. Despite these studies no has been able to translate the writings.

In Rapa Nui only the upper class learned how to write Rongorongo script, and due the rough first encounters Easter Island had with early explorers all knowledge of the script has been lost. King Nga’ara, died 1860, was the last person to master the Rongorongo script.

Even though no one has been able to read the Rongorongo writings, linguists have learned a few things about the writing. For instance the script is written using a system known as reverse boustrophedon.

When writing in Rongorongo the author would start at the bottom left corner and write from left to right until he hit an edge. Then the author would rotate the script 180 degrees (probably just rotating the writing material) and continue on the next line up.

With only a few remaining samples of Rongorongo script, and no one remaining who understands the script there are still many unanswered questions. The Rongorongo script remains a mystery and a rare anthropological treasure.

http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/rapanui.html
http://islandheritage.org/wordpress/

An example of reverse boustrophedon on wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reverse_boustrophedon.png

Polyglotism

Polyglotism, also known as multilingualism, means that a person is capable of communicating in two or more languages. Some polyglots learn many languages, but many learn only two or three.

Knowledge of a second language, even if you are only able to read or listen to the language and not speak it, increases your opportunities in today’s society. Many jobs within the USA require that employees interact with speakers of multiple languages on a regular basis. Polyglots also have an advantage in the international job market.

With advances in communications and transportation opportunities to use a second language are increasingly common. Over the internet it is easy talk to someone on the other side of the world. By airplane it is possible to be anywhere in the world in just a day or two. If you know the language it is much easier to talk to the people and to understand the culture of any place you want to go.

Despite the advantages to multilingualism, many people are hesitant to learn a second language. Often concerns about the difficulty, expense, or usefulness of learning another language will prevent people from trying to learn.

While it is true that some languages are more common than others, every language provides a rich culture to explore and vast stores of knowledge to gain. The difficulty, expense, and usefulness of learning a second language are all directly affected by which language you choose to learn and why you want to learn it. Often many resources are available online, and once you start learning the language you will often find a surprising number of people who also know that language.

Other difficulties arise when people have unrealistic expectations about learning a language. Learning a language takes time, and few people learn to speak a second language ‘perfectly.’ It’s okay to not know everything about a language. Many people who only speak one language don’t speak it ‘perfectly’ and many people learn to speak a second language well enough to pass as a native. Anyone who takes the time to find a method that works well for them, and is persistent and motivated can learn to speak a second language or more if he or she wants.



'Learn a new language, and get a new soul.'

- Czech proverb.

http://www.multilingualchildren.org/index.html

http://www.thelanguagejournal.com/2011/10/its-polyglot-world-out-there.html

http://www.lsadc.org/info/ling-fields-multi.cfm

World Oral Literature Project

In many cultures around the world knowledge is passed on orally. History, legends, myths, folklore, songs, traditions, even genealogies are passed on by word of mouth. The majority of these oral traditions have no written record, if a language dies its oral traditions die with it.

Worldwide languages are disappearing at a rate of roughly 26 languages per year. Many of the dying languages are oral languages with no written form. These languages have rich oral traditions but all that knowledge can only be accessed by finding someone who still knows the stories.

If, for example, English were in the same situation as these other languages then things like the story of Robin Hood, Mother goose’s nursery rhymes, the ABC song and much more would disappear.

In an effort to prevent the loss of these oral traditions, the University of Cambridge has undertaken a project know as The World Oral Literature Project. According to Cambridge, ‘The World Oral Literature Project is an urgent global initiative to document and make accessible endangered oral literatures before they disappear without record’

Established in January of 2009 the World Oral Literature Project has successfully completed six projects (http://www.oralliterature.org/grants/grantees.html) and started several more. Each project works with different cultures and strives to preserve the orature of that culture. The projects include audio recordings in addition to written documentation. This way the documentation preserves some of the feel of the oral traditions as well as the actual story.

The WOLP is one of many organizations working to preserve culture worldwide, but there is still a long way to go. While we don’t want cling to the past at the expense of the future, we stand to lose a great deal if we lose the oral literature of these cultures. We could do far worse than to learn of the vast stores of knowledge found in cultures all over the world.

http://www.oralliterature.org/
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/enduring-voices/