UN Declares 2008 "International Year of Languages"

Back in May, the United Nations declared 2008 the International Year of Languages. The plural -s there is crucial: the UN wants to promote linguistic diversity, both globally and locally--to encourage speakers of majority languages (especially global languages like English, Spanish, and Arabic) to be more tolerant and supportive of minority languages (and especially endangered languages), and to encourage speakers of minority languages to learn majority languages as well as speaking their own first tongues.

The UN General Assembly's press release is here; the text of the original resolution is here. For interesting commentary, check out Heidi Harley's Language Log post (at the University of Pennsylvania); for a satirical take on the Bush administration's response to the resolution, see Dennis Baron's recent Web of Language post (at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign). Here's a passage from Baron's post:

While the rest of the world lines up to support the U.N.’s International Languages Year, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad has announced that America’s participation remains problematic. The Bush administration is claiming that languages were theories, not scientifically-proven facts, and the president himself recently affirmed his belief that God created English in just six days and promised to veto the use of federal funds to teach language evolution to impressionable children.



Though his own mastery of language remains in doubt, Pres. George W. Bush has insisted that languages are theories, not facts, and that the United States won’t sign any multinational treaties that may be detrimental to the spread of English around the planet.

Reacting to a New York Times report that Marvel Comics has just released a bilingual Fantastic Four comic book, the president also told reporters in a Rose Garden press briefing that the United States would not be a signatory to any multinational treaties attempting to reverse global language change. He urged everyone living in the United States to speak English, not Spanish, and, demonstrating his commitment to make English America’s official language, he resolved to begin learning English right away.

February 21 is the UN's International Mother Language Day. Any ideas how we should celebrate?