Every year, UN English Language Day is observed on April 23. In the year 2010, the Department of Public Information decided to observe 23 April as English Language Day along with other days observed for each of the UN’s six official languages namely Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. 23rd April was chosen in honor of William Shakespeare as this day is celebrated as both his birth and death anniversary. Those looking for more information related to English Language Day 2024 can find the same from this post.
Significance of English Language Day
‘To celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization” is the main goal behind observing the United Nations language days.
Celebration of these days also aims at increasing awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of each of the six UN working languages.
Check about richest actresses in the world
UN Working Language Days
There are six official languages of United Nations that are promoted through means of observing days dedicated to these languages. The initiative was taken by the Department of Global Communications to establish language days for each of the Organization’s six official languages. These days are as follows:
- UN Arabic Language Day- 18 December
- UN Chinese Language Day- 20 April
- UN English Language Day- 23 April
- UN French Language Day- 20 March
- UN Russian Language Day- 6 June
- Spanish Language Day- 23 April
The English Language
English is the most-spoken language in the world with more than 1.5 billion people around the globe speak English as a first or second language. More than 67 countries have adopted English as their official language. English is the only major language that doesn’t have any organization guiding it unlike some other UN official langauges.
For example, there is French Académie française for the French language, for Spanish, there is Spanish Real Academia Española and for German, there is German Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung. These organizations control the evolution of their respective language in terms of use, vocabulary and grammar.
Fun facts about the English language
Check out some fun facts related to English language that you might know.
- A sentence that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet is called a “pangram”.
- The sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” contains all 26 letters of the alphabet.
- “I am.” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
- Swims will be swims even after turning it upside down.
- Shakespeare invented many words of English including birthplace, blushing, undress, torture, etc
- The first English dictionary was written in 1755.
- Most English words begin with the letter “s”.
- The combination “ough” can be pronounced in 10 different ways.
- Numbers up to 1000 can be spelled without using the letter “a.”
- Many English words have changed their meaning over time. For example, ‘awful’ used to mean ‘inspiring wonder’ and was a short version of ‘full of awe’.
Quotes on English Language Day 2024
Some inspiring quotes related to the English language given by famous personalities are given below for you to send on English Language Day 2024. This day is considered as one of special days observed in April.
English is flexible. You can jam it into a Cuisinart for an hour, remove it and meaning will still emerge – Douglas Coupland
Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going – Rita Mae Brown
English is the language of a people who have probably earned their reputation for perfidy and hypocrisy because their language itself is so flexible – Paul Scott
I admire people who dare to take the language, English, and understand it and understand the melody – Maya Angelou
With hard work, learning English, and getting involved, there is no limit on what you can achieve – Arnold Schwarzenegger
FAQs
Every year on April 23
Last year, the theme of English Language Day was “Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities”.
The day is considered as birthday of Shakespeare.
