International Mother Language Day on Belsat TV: Fast facts about Belarusian (ENG video)

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There are over 6,000 languages in our patchworky and diverse world, but half of them seem to be in danger. International Mother Language Day (IMLD), a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February, aims to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural and multilingualism.

It is also an occasion for speakers of any language to think about the fate of their native tongue. Russia’s long-term influence in Belarus resulted in the nation’s neglecting its origin, history and culture. Fortunately, over the recent years the situation has been improving: more and more Belarusian are taking pride in the country and becoming aware of the necessity of learning and speaking their native language.

Interesting facts about the Belarusian language:

• Our language is one of the richest in the world. The literary language has over 500,000 words; dialects have 1.5-2 mln words.
• The history of the written language extends back about 10 centuries.
• The language has three scripts: Cyrillic, Latin and even Arabic.
• It was awarded the status of the official language in the Grand Principality of Lithuania.
• According to UNESCO, Belarusian is the second most harmonious language after Italian.
• It ranked 69th in the world for the number of speakers.
• According to the latest census, 53% of population of the country called it native.
• Belsat TV is the only channel in the world that broadcasts solely in Belarusian.

First announced by UNESCO in November 1999, International Mother Language Day has been observed since 2000. The idea of marking International Mother Language Day was put up by Bangladesh. On 21 February 1952, five students demonstrating for the recognition of Bengali as one of the two national languages of East Pakistan were brutally shot dead by police in the capital of present-day Bangladesh.

In May 2009, the United Nations General Assembly called on its member states ‘to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by people of the world’.

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