International Day of English

Do you know that among the many holidays there is also the English Language Day? However, this is not surprising.

About English

The language, which served for the everyday communication of the three tribes only 1500 years ago, today became a means of communication for almost two billion people. And in English there are three times less speakers of the language than representatives of other nations. It is the lingua franca of the modern world. This is the language used by the Russians to talk with the inhabitants of Nigeria, the Germans, to communicate with the Spaniards, the Chinese, to understand the Brazilians. English is the official means of communication in 70 countries of the world. It is spoken on every continent. It is the language of the Internet, aviation, international business and science. It exists in thousands of dialects, in slang and street forms. Oxford English Dictionary (online form) has more than a million words, about 600,000 articles. If we take into account that the vocabulary of a highly educated person is about 50,000 lexical units, one can understand that any one speaking on it uses only a small part of the existing heritage. Truly, this means of communication deserved its own holiday.

history of the holiday

When did the English Language Day take its rightful place in our calendar? Strangely enough, it happened recently - in 2010. The fact is that English, along with French, is one of the two working languages of the secretariat of the United Nations, as well as one of six of its official means of communication. The holiday was the result of the initiative of the UN Department of Public Information. The purpose of its creation is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity. That is why in fact in 2010 it was decided to establish six holidays at once, each of which is dedicated to one of the official languages.

6 languages - 6 holidays

Each of the official means of communication of the UN received its own red day of the calendar.

1. Arabic - December 18. It was on this day in 1973 that he received the status of the official language of the United Nations.
2. Chinese - April 20. To this day, China is associated with the so-called Guyu - the season of millet rain. According to legend, when the famous Tsang Jie created Chinese hieroglyphs, the gods and spirits burst into tears and millet rain fell from the sky.
3. International Day of English - April 23. The date is timed to coincide with the death of William Shakespeare. In some sources you can find information that the holiday is celebrated on the birthday of the famous British, but it is not. In fact, the exact date of his birth is unknown, indicating only the date of baptism - April 26, 1564.
4. French is honored on the International Day of Francophonie, March 20.
5. For the Day of the Russian language, it was expected to be June 6 - the date of the birth of Alexander Pushkin.
6. Spanish received on October 12, because this is the feast of the Fiesta de la Hispanidad - the Day of the Spanish race.

How to tag

Who can celebrate the English Language Day in Russia? Yes, almost all residents of the country, as English is one of the most studied foreign languages in Pushkin's homeland. Although first of all congratulations with him, probably, is the teachers, thanks to which Russian-speaking children and adults master the world communication medium.

It is clear that schools can be timed to coincide with this date of the English Language Week: recall the biography of Shakespeare, organize a contest of dramatizations of English-language works or answer questions from an English quiz. In some educational institutions newspapers are issued, timed for the holiday, they organize contests of essays and poems in English, competition of translators.

And how to celebrate a holiday in the family circle?

• Try one evening to speak English.
• Include Beatles, Rolling Stones, Prodigy or Spice Girls.
• Cook the steak and pudding.
• Read literary masterpieces "King Lear", "Gulliver's Travel", "Fair of Vanity", "The Lord of the Rings" or "Harry Potter".
• Watch the movie "Children of the Road," one of the series "Sherlock", Oscar-winning "King says!" Or the lovely British tape "The Adventures of Paddington."
• Solve the English crossword puzzle.

Surely you will come up with many options yourself, and the holiday will be held with profit!