21st February is UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day, which promotes linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The theme of the International Mother Language Day celebration 2024 is: Multilingual education is a pillar of intergenerational learning. Mother tongue education supports learning, literacy and the acquisition of additional languages.
There are lots of activities in the Festival to celebrate languages and mother tongues, shining a light on diverse languages and cultures. There is also a Global Call to Action to improve heritage language and culture education for multilingual children worldwide. Read on to find out more.
Opportunities to celebrate Mother languages with Festival activities and resources up to the end of March
Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages is on now. It is a great opportunity to share and celebrate the different languages and heritage of children and young people across the North East. Here are a selection of activities that you can do in schools and communities which enable them to express themselves in their own languages.
For children and young people
Mother Tongue Other Tongue writing activity: Submit entries by 22nd March. Children and young people (aged 7-18) in schools are invited to share poems/songs in their home language or write an original piece of poetry in a language they are learning. Certificates for all entries and selection of writing will be included in a digital anthology.
Peace Cranes origami and languages activity – Register now to get links and submit cranes by 6th March. Schools can create and submit colourful origami birds, with messages of peace written in English or any other languages, as part of a public regional exhibition, with some being sent to Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum in Japan. Can also be a display in schools.
Festival Song (Happy) singing and performing Register by 18th February to get involved and submit entries by 18th March. Schools are invited to sign, sign, play, perform and film different language versions of the song Happy, by Pharrell Williams. Resources available on Charanga (with free 30-day trial if needed). A compilation video of performances will be shared to celebrate contributions.
Exploring and celebrating indigenous African languages (workshop activity): Available mid-Feb to end March. For schools and groups (5-16 years): Register for an activity pack to run a classroom, youth group or community workshop introducing 4 indigenous African languages: Yoruba, Swahili, Tamazight, Xhosa.
Multilingual Library primary school tours, games and stories 10-12 & 2.30-4.30pm 5th, 7th, 12th, 14th and 19th March Primary Schools are invited for a tour of the Multilingual Library in Gateshead with quizzes, games and stories.
Puppet shows – have fun learning French! (3 shows for different ages) Available now to 31st March. For early years, primary up to KS2: 3 interactive one-hour puppet shows tailored to different ages, with teacher resources and additional guidance videos. Children learn French words while enjoying a fun and engaging story told with puppets with Nathalie Paris.
Lingotot pre-recorded sessions for young learners (3-11 years) Available now to 31st March. Lingotot pre-recorded activities introducing French, Spanish, German, Italian and Ukrainian to children. Fun interactive activities in 30-minute sessions available online with worksheets.
Celebrate Speaking! National festival of speaking languages 1st-28th February 2024 Encourage pupils to practise and celebrate languages they are learning or use in their community and take part in a virtual festival of speaking. Pupils prepare a short poem, presentation, sketch, dialogue in the target language (solo or joint), record the performances (film or powerpoint/bitmoji for under 16s) and schools upload them. to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtags #CelebrateSpeaking and the language chosen (e.g. #French)
Stories for Young Learners in French (5-11 years) Storytelling to bring stories to life for children. Videos with French story tellers reading different stories in French. Supported by teacher resources to help explore the stories.
Lara’s language journey across Europe (interactive book) A fun interactive booklet about languages spoken in different countries across wider Europe, with key words and sounds, phrases and facts.
Lara’s language journey through regional and minority languages Download the book in French, English or Spanish. Learn about different minority languages across Europe, with facts, words and sounds.
Around the world education packs for schools and pupils Discover British Council’s curated collection of classroom resources about life and culture in different countries around the world. Packed with ideas and projects to help you plan lessons that can bring learning about the wider world to life: Chinese Year of the Dragon, Arab culture and football, Polish language and culture, Indian languages and culture, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia primary education packs.
For adults and communities
Heritage storytelling – our shared roots: Community event: 4.00-5.30pm on 20th March, Kittiwake Trust Multilingual Library, Gateshead Families and members of the region’s diverse communities are invited to share their heritage stories and memories of their country of origin and its culture in this community event at the Multilingual Library.
Multilingual Library – Breaking Bread (adults) 2-4pm on 21st March Adults from diverse communities are invited to the Multilingual Library in Gateshead to exchange stories and songs about – and tasting – breads in many languages and creating a new artwork.
Festival links and information
- Click here to download the full Festival programme
- Visit the What’s On page here (for latest updates about what is still available)
- Follow us on social media to find out the latest news: X (twitter), instagram and facebook
International Mother Language Global Call to Action
International Mother Tongue Language Day 2024 celebrates students’ universal right to study their heritage languages.
A new global think tank of academics and practitioners have created an easy-to-use list of recommendations for everyone – from students to mainstream schools to policy-makers – to help improve heritage language and culture education for multilingual children worldwide. The Global Call to Action for Heritage Language Education will be launched on 21st February 2024.
If you want to help heritage language educators and the children they support, please pledge commitment to the Global Call to Action publicly on social media on or after February 21 and share widely within your networks.
Click here to view the PRESS KIT with full PRESS RELEASE and social media IMAGES
An event organized by UNESCO on 21 February will include two panel discussions on multilingual education as a key component of quality learning.
