International Day of Multilingualism 27th of March #multilingualisnormal

Are you multilingual? If you speak more than one language or dialect, then the answer to that question is YES and this makes you part of a majority people in the world who can communicate in multiple languages and/or dialects. #multilingualisnormal

As there are so many of us, shouldn’t there be a day when we can all together celebrate being multilingual? Of course there should be! This is the reason I have joined a group of language enthusiasts  in campaigning for the International Day of Multilingualism to be celebrated on the 27th of March each year.

The day was chosen because 27th of March 196 BC is the date engraved on the Rosetta Stone, which enabled researchers to decode Egyptian hieroglyphs and has a significant role in the history of languages.

In my book “Bringing up a Bilingual Child” Celebration is one of the seven Cs that parents raising children to become multilingual have to navigate across – the other Cs being Communication, Confidence, Commitment, Consistency, Creativity and Culture. I suggested the International Mother Language Day for this purpose, but as it has not really ever taken off (despite many of us trying really hard to promote it), I am excited about this new incentive. And I think you should be, too!

What can you do to support the International Day of Multilingualism #multilingualisnormal?

Spread the good news! Some ideas for what to share on your social media channels:

1 – a picture of you or your multilingual family listing the languages you speak, for example:
I am / We are proud to speak #multilingualisnormal

2 – a post describing why your languages are important to you:
I love my languages because they #multilingualisnormal

3 – your favourite quote about multilingualism:
This is mine:

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.
Nelson Mandela

Don’t have a favourite quote yet? Check the Piri-Piri Lexicons post for some great ones! #multilingualisnormal

4 – did I mention you should use the #multilingualisnormal hashtag in all posts?

5 – search for the hashtag #multilingualisnormal and reshare the posts you find. If you also add the hashtag #multilingualparenting or tag me or my site, I will not only share your post, but also personally respond to or comment on it.

6 – go to the Facebook International Day of Multilingualism event page and add the phrase ‘multilingual is normal’ in your language.

IMPORTANT

For maximum effect, please publish at least some of your posts at 09:00 and 21:00 GMT on Wednesday 27th March 2019. To check when that is in your time zone, go here, enter your location and compare it to the above times in London.

Also check these posts for more information and ideas:
International Day of Multilingualism: 27 March
The 1st International Day of Multilingualism

Let’s get #multilingualisnormal trending and make the 27th of March the day we can all celebrate our languages together on the International Day of Multilingualism.