International Mother Language Day marked on February 21
The holiday has been introduced by UNESCO with an aim "to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism".
According to UNESCO's estimation, half of the six thousand languages of the world are under the threat of disappearance - a language needs at least 100 000 speakers in order to function normally.
The date of February 21 was not accidentally chosen. 5 students were killed on this very day in 1952 in Pakistan for participation in a demonstration for granting their mother language Bangla the status of a state language. Today, Bangladesh is an independent state with its own official language.
