On February 21, at the initiative of UNESCO, the world celebrates International Mother Language Day. It has been celebrated since 2000 to support linguistic, cultural diversity and multilingualism in the world. Language combines the means of expression with the mentality, customs, and way of thinking of a people. Today, there are more than 6,000 languages in the world, half of which are endangered. In Ukraine, the languages that require special attention and protection are Karaite, Krymchak, Crimean Tatar, Rumeika, Uruma, and some others.
In Ukraine, more than two-thirds of the population considers Ukrainian to be their native language. In addition, in certain regions and places where national communities live compactly, people consider Belarusian, Armenian, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Romanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Polish, Gagauz, Greek, Crimean Tatar, Slovak, German, and other languages to be their native languages.
One of the values of the “Culture of Good Neighborhood” project is respect for native languages, cultural enrichment combined with respect for the state language. We profess a multilingual approach to education, which can be seen in many of our manuals and textbooks. So, our whole team congratulates you on this day! Let’s cherish Ukrainian and our other native languages in modern European Ukraine!
