Celebrate the diversity of words

There are about 6,500 languages in the world, and around 200 languages spoken in Manchester at any one time.

Celebrate the rich diversity of your words for International Mother Language Day in Manchester February 2021 with free events taking place across the city.

Activities this year may be online, but they still include fun, family-friendly crafts and performances, discussions and workshops across Manchester – Britain’s city of languages, where half of all adults and 4 in 10 young people in the city are multilingual.

UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. It has been observed globally since 2000 and has important historical roots. In Bangladesh 21 February is the anniversary of the day when Bangladeshis fought for recognition for the Bangla language.

If you are working in a school, library or home-educating and would like to know how to showcase multi-lingual poetry and literature, there are packs of downloadable resources courtesy of Stanley Grove Primary Academy and Emma Martin below. There you will find an introductory presentation, and lots of fun and exciting ways to bring mother language into a classroom, please feel free to use.

Find out more about previous celebrations, and book your place on our upcoming celebrations below!

You can join in the conversation by tagging us on social media @MCRCityofLit and using the hashtag #MCRIMLD21.