Photo: propositive.ru
International Mother Language Day is celebrated on Thursday, February 21, RIA Novosti reports. It was established almost 20 years ago by the decision of UNESCO. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order to establish a Fund for the preservation and study of native languages in the country on January 17, 2019.
Russian specialists are convinced that this day is special for our country, as it is the most multilingual country in the world. According to Vice-Rector for Science at Pushkin Institute Mikhail Osadchy, Mother Language Day is an excellent opportunity to recall that Russia is a home for many nations. Russians speak more than 150 languages and 350 dialects. Russia can consider Mother Language Day a national holiday, the scientist added.
Every year, an increasing number of people prefer English as the language of education and professional communication. Mother language loses its positions and remains only in everyday life. The larger the scale of this phenomenon, the faster the mother language dies. It gives way to a stronger and universal means of communication.
Once the same thing happened with the languages of Soviet Union countries. For the most part the USSR used Russian language in the scientific, cultural, economic spheres, in the authorities.
After the collapse of the country, when they decided to reintroduce their native languages, it turned out that the languages were no longer ready for this. They lack the necessary words and style means. It took almost a quarter of a century to restore native languages. But at the same time, the inequality between Russian language and other languages of the CIS states still remains today. Specialists, politicians and public figures strive to preserve linguistic diversity in our country.
Russkiy Mir
