Language Days At The UN
In 2010, the UN's Department of Public Information announced an initiative of six "language days" to be observed throughout the year, one for each official language, with the goal of celebrating linguistic diversity and learning about the importance of cross-cultural communication. The days and their historical significance are:
- UN Arabic Language Day: 18 December (the date on which the United Nations General Assembly designated Arabic as the sixth official language of the United Nations in 1973);
- UN Chinese Language Day: first celebrated 12 November now set on 20 April ("to pay tribute to Cang Jie")
- UN English Language Day: 23 April ("the date traditionally observed as the death of William Shakespeare")
- UN French Language Day: 20 March (corresponding to the Journée internationale de la Francophonie)
- UN Russian Language Day: 6 June (the birthday of Alexander Pushkin)
- UN Spanish Language Day: 12 October (celebrated in the Spanish-speaking world as "Día de la Hispanidad" or "Día de la Raza"; compare Columbus Day)
Read more about this topic: Official UN Languages
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