Official Languages Act

Official Language Act or Official Languages Act may refer to:

  • the Official Languages Act (Canada) passed in Canada to enshrine official bilingualism
  • the Official Language Act (Quebec) passed in Quebec to ensure that French retained its primary status
  • the Official Languages Act (Ireland) passed in Ireland to promote the provision of state services in Irish
  • Several acts passed in Sri Lanka:
    • the Official Language Act No. 33 of 1956 (Ceylon), commonly known as the Sinhala Only Act, passed in Ceylon in 1956 to replacing English with Sinhala as the official language of the country
    • the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act No. 28 of 1958 (Ceylon) passed in Ceylon in 1958 allows Tamil in education, public service entrance exams and administration in the Northern and Eastern provinces
    • the Official Languages Act of 1987 (Sri Lanka) passed in Sri Lanka in 1987 to make Tamil an official language of the country
    • the Official Languages Commission Act No. 18 of 1991 (Sri Lanka) passed in Sri Lanka in 1991 to establish the Official Languages Commission of Sri Lanka
  • the Official Languages Ordinance passed in Hong Kong in 1974 to bring the English and Chinese languages to equal status as official languages of the territory

Famous quotes containing the words official, languages and/or act:

    “All official institutions of language are repeating machines: school, sports, advertising, popular songs, news, all continually repeat the same structure, the same meaning, often the same words: the stereotype is a political fact, the major figure of ideology.”
    —Roland Barthes (1915–1980)

    “No doubt, to a man of sense, travel offers advantages. As many languages as he has, as many friends, as many arts and trades, so many times is he a man. A foreign country is a point of comparison, wherefrom to judge his own.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “... whatever men do or know or experience can make sense only to the extent that it can be spoken about. There may be truths beyond speech, and they may be of great relevance to man in the singular, that is, to man in so far as he is not a political being, whatever else he may be. Men in the plural, that is, men in so far as they live and move and act in this world, can experience meaningfulness only because they can talk with and make sense to each other and to themselves.”
    —Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)