The International Mother Language Day, a day for the appropriate celebration of every language throughout the world. In 1999, UNESCO established 21st February as Mother Language Day, while the United Nations General Assembly confirmed the holiday with a resolution. The idea arose from the desire to respect every language in the world, to preserve the language and script, to foster love for the mother tongue and to raise awareness of the importance of the mother tongue.
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages entered into force in the Republic of Serbia in 2006. By ratifying the agreement, Serbia committed to protect all minority languages used on its territory. In addition to the mother tongue, 12 languages of national minorities are used in Serbia: Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Bunjevac, Hungarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Ruthenian, Slovak, Croatian, Montenegrin and Czech. In certain territories, Vlach and Romani are also used.
Education in Serbia is conducted in a total of nine languages, and according to state administration data, nearly 60,000 children are receiving instruction in minority languages at all levels of education.
When it comes to the Serbian language, the mark left by Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic is immeasurable. During the 19th century, the Serbian linguist did more for the Cyrillic alphabet and the Serbian language than anyone else. Reformer, collector of folk tales, writer of the first dictionary of the Serbian language - thanks to Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic, we have the Serbian language. It is up to us to preserve it, cherish it, love it and pass it on to future generations.
The International Mother Language Day, first established as an important date in 1999, and celebrated as a holiday for the first time in 2008, at the initiative of Bangladesh. It was there, on 21st February 1952, at protests organized by the Bengali Language Movement in Dhaka, that the police and the army killed several students and injured hundreds of others. UNESCO warns that more than 40 percent of the world's population does not have access to education in the language they speak and that it is very important to preserve all the world's languages.
"Love the Serbian language every day, a little bit at a time. The Serbian language has no one else but us." - Dusko Radovic.
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