English Language Day 2023: History, Significance and How It’s Celebrated?

The English language is one of the most widely spoken languages across the globe, making it a lingua franca of the modern era. Along with French, English is also the working language of the United Nations (UN).

History:

The day commemorates the development, history, culture, and achievements associated with the English language. It is the result of a 2010 initiative by the Department of Global Communications, which established language days for each of the UN's six official languages. Under the initiative, UN duty stations celebrate six separate days, each dedicated to one of the organisation's official languages worldwide.

Significance:

The purpose of the UN's language days is to observe multilingualism and cultural diversity, promoting equal use of all six official languages throughout the organisation. The language days aim to raise awareness and respect for the history, culture, and achievements of each of the six working languages among the UN community.

How is the day celebrated?

On English Language Day, various events are organised worldwide, including book-reading events, English quizzes, poetry and literature exchanges, and other activities that stimulate the English language. The theme for the 2022 English Language Day is "Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and possibilities."

The celebration of English Language Day aims to honour the usage of the language and even some of its peculiarities, encouraging the equal use of all official languages across the organisation while considering social and cultural diversity. The English language has a solid reputation for incorporating words, ideas, and cultural influences from around the world, making it undoubtedly the most widely used and spoken language globally.