Since 2000, the international community has celebrated Mother Language Day. The recognition originates from the XXX session of the UNESCO General Conference, which took place from October 26 to November 17, 1999 in Paris, where it was announced about "the support of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism"
With about half of the world's 6,000 spoken languages at risk of extinction, UNESCO aims to support language as a sign of human cultural belonging. In addition, the organization believes that learning foreign languages and multilingualism are the keys to mutual understanding and mutual respect
The annual observance of this day is used to draw attention to minorities of fewer than 10,000 people who actively speak their native language. Often these languages are not passed on to the next generation and fall into oblivion. Many languages spoken by fewer than 100 people are not documented.
Interesting facts about the Ukrainian language
Many have heard that Ukrainian is recognized as one of the most beautiful languages in the world.Here are some more facts about our native language.
- there are about 256 thousand words in the Ukrainian language.
- the Ukrainian language differs from related Slavic languages in that it has a seventh vocative case.
- in 1933, the letter "ґ" was removed from Ukrainian spelling for ideological reasons. The communists believed that with the help of this letter, Ukrainians are trying to get closer to the Western style of language and move away from the Russian language. Maksym Rylskyi and Pavlo Tychyna unsuccessfully tried to return "ґ" to the alphabet. The letter was returned to the alphabet in 1990.
- they tried to ban the Ukrainian language many times - the number of 134 ban attempts is most often mentioned. Our language survived 4 centuries of repression and linguicide. The Valuyiv circular, which was supposed to Russify Ukrainians, is considered the most famous document about the ban on the Ukrainian language.
- a very important part of the Ukrainian language is its dialects - unique for each region. Along with studying the literary norms of the Ukrainian language, it is also important to remember and preserve the peculiarities of one's dialect.
- among works in the Ukrainian language, Taras Shevchenko's "Testament" has the most translations. The poem was translated into 140 languages.
- the most popular song of Ukrainian origin in the world is the Christmas song "Shchedryk". It is known to foreigners as "Carol of the bells".
- among Ukrainian words, the noun "hand", the adjective "big", the verb "to be" and the pronoun "he" are most often used.
- folk tales are an important part of Ukrainian folklore.
English (UK) 
Українська