- HOME
- INTRO TO THE FORUM
- BADLY WRITTEN, BADLY SPOKEN
- GETTING
TO KNOW ENGLISH - PREPARING FOR ENGLISH PROFICIENCY TESTS
- GOING DEEPER INTO ENGLISH
- YOU ASKED ME THIS QUESTION
- EDUCATION AND TEACHING FORUM
- ADVICE AND DISSENT
- MY MEDIA ENGLISH WATCH
- STUDENTS' SOUNDING BOARD
- LANGUAGE HUMOR AT ITS FINEST
- THE LOUNGE
- NOTABLE WORKS BY OUR VERY OWN
- ESSAYS BY JOSE CARILLO
- No Earthly Reason Why The Clergy Should Be Bad In English Grammar
- Here’s Hoping For Better English In This Year’s Graduation Rites
- Looking Back to Easter Sunday’s Earthly and Celestial Foundations
- Our Need For Thinking National Leaders With The Gift Of Language
- The Heavy Price of Misplacing One’s Trust and Confidence
- The Three Basic Word-Positioning Principles For Emphasizing Ideas
- ABOUT JOSE CARILLO
- READINGS ABOUT LANGUAGE
- TIME OUT FROM ENGLISH GRAMMAR
- NEWS AND COMMENTARY
- BOOKSHOP
- ARCHIVES
READINGS IN LANGUAGE
This new section features links to interesting, instructive, or thought-provoking readings about the English language. The selections could be anywhere from light and humorous to serious and scholarly, and they range widely from the reading, writing, listening, and speaking disciplines to the teaching and learning of English.
UN marks English Day to celebrate one of its six official languages
The United Nations marked the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death by celebrating English Language Day last April 23. The celebration was the second in a series this year to raise awareness and respect for the history, culture, and achievements of each of the six official languages of the world body.
“It was Shakespeare who coined the phrase ‘a feast of languages,’” Kiyo Akasaka, UN undersecretary-general for communications and public information and multilingualism coordinator, told an awards ceremony at the UN Headquarters in New York for the St. Jerome Translation Contest.
“It is a phrase we can adapt to our world today, and to the United Nations itself. Multilingualism clearly reflects the bounty of ideas, heritage and spirit that constitutes this feast,” he said.
Last month the UN marked French Language Day with awards in the St. Jerome contest for those translating into French, and similar celebrations will be held throughout the year for the four other official languages on a day of particular relevance to each—Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish. St. Jerome was a medieval scholar behind the Latin translation of the Bible.
Akasaka noted that English has become the lingua franca in many parts of the world, after developing under the influence of Old Norse, French, Latin, and Greek and then absorbing words from many other languages. “The English language has traveled widely, borrowed a lot, and given even more,” he said.
“As under-secretary-general for communications and public information, I have a great appreciation of the work that our translators, interpreters, editors and experts in terminology undertake across the world,” he said. “Initiatives such as the St. Jerome’s Translation Contest allow us to honor those who, through their study and skill, are instrumental in guaranteeing that the work of this Organization is communicated in the six official languages, and beyond.”
The March 20 celebration of French coincided with the 40th anniversary of the International Organization of La Francophonie, a group whose members share a common tongue, as well as the humanist values promoted by the French language.
Russian Language Day will be marked on June 6, the birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin, recognized as the father of Russian literature; the Day for Spanish will be on Oct. 12, Spain’s National Day; and Arabic Language Day will be celebrated on Dec. 18, the day in 1973 when the General Assembly approved Arabic as an official UN language.
A date marking Chinese Language Day has yet to be approved.
From the United Nations news release on English Day
RELATED READINGS:
William Shakespeare: A king of infinite space
In an article in the April 23 issue of the Telegraph.uk commemorating Shakespeare’s birth anniversary, Anthony Seldon laments why we are allowing the world’s foremost playwright and England’s cultural figurehead to disappear from the classroom.
Read Anthony Seldon’s article in The Telegraph.uk now!
Barding Up The Wrong Tree—Celebrating Shakespeare’s Birthday
Matthew Cossolotto, president of the Shakespeare Oxford Society, lists what he calls his “Top Ten” list of reasons to doubt the traditional Shakespeare authorship theory.
Read Matthew Cossolotto’s article in the Shakespeare Oxford Society website now!
Click to read comments or post a comment
View the complete list of postings in this section
(requires registration to post)
