Mother Language Day

Facts about Mother Language Day

• The theme for International Mother Language Day in 2023 was Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education.
• According to Lingua.edu, as of 2023, the most spoken languages around the world are:
  1) English – 1.45 billion people
  2) Mandarin Chinese – 1.11 billion people
  3) Hindi – 602 million people
  4) Spanish – 534 million people
• Mother languages in a multilingual approach are essential components of quality education, which is itself the foundation for empowering women and men in their societies. — Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General.
• Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has adopted a language policy that promotes multilingualism. This policy aims to encourage the development and use of all 11 official languages and facilitates the preservation of minority languages for cultural and heritage purposes
• The importance of language in South Africa's political and cultural history can be seen through events such as the Soweto uprising in 1976. Protests began in response to the apartheid government's policy of enforcing Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in black schools, leading to widespread unrest and violence.

In the News and Trending in South Africa for Mother Language Day

Top things to do in South Africa for Mother Language Day

• Gather with friends and family to assess your local education system. Does it provide adequate language instruction and second language instruction? Second language acquisition has been linked with critical thinking, creativity and flexibility of the mind.
• Generate awareness for International Mother Language Day by using the hashtags #InternationalMotherTongueDay, #IMLD, #motherlanguage or a hashtag followed by the language of your post (#english, #bengali, #xhosa).
• Visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg: This museum shows the history of the Apartheid era in South Africa in an engaging, interactive format. It also has exhibitions and resources about the different languages spoken in South Africa.
• Language Roadshows: These events are essentially traveling exhibitions, featuring linguistic diversity in South Africa, often held in community halls, schools, and public spaces.