Chinese Language Day
About Chinese Language Day
When is Chinese Language Day? This holiday is always observed on April 20
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (UNESCO) recognizes six languages as official languages of the UN. They are six of the most spoken languages in the world. Chinese is one of these six languages. In recognition and celebration of these languages, each one was given a special holiday. Chinese Language Day is today, an April 20 holiday.
Chinese Language Day was created by UNESCO. The goal for this day is to celebrate multilingual and cultural diversity, and to recognize and celebrate Chinese as one of the six official languages of the United Nations. This special holiday also pays tribute to Cang Jie, a legendary figure who invented Chinese characters over 5,000 years ago.
Chinese Mandarin or Putonghua, is the native language of over 1 billion people. There are over 200 dialects of Chinese, with many so diverse, that they could be considered their own language group. The most common of these is Mandarin, which is the official language (or dialect) of the People’s Republic of China. It is also widely spoken in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. After Mandarin, the most commonly spoken Chinese languages, or dialects, are Wu, Shanghainese, Hongkongese, and Cantonese.
UNESCO Language Days
The six language days established by UNESCO are:
| Language: | Celebrated On: | Comment: |
| Arabic | December 18 | On this day in 1973, the UN General Assembly adopted Arabic as the sixth official UN language. |
| Chinese | April 20 | Pays tribute to Cang Jie, a legendary figure who invented Chinese characters over 5,000 years ago. |
| English | April 23 | Both the birth and death date of William Shakespeare |
| French | March 20 | Commemorates the founding anniversary of the Organization international de la Francophonie. |
| Russian | June 6 | Honors the birthday of Alexander Pushkin, the father of Russian literature. |
| Spanish | April 23 | Honors Spanish novelist, poet and playwright Don Miguel Cervantes Saavedra, died on April 23. |
How to Celebrate Chinese Language Day
Take Mandarin language lessons.
Learn more about the Chinese people and their culture.
Celebrate with Chinese Fortune Cookies.
Today's Quote
“Drop by drop the water pot is filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.” – – Buddha
History and Origin of Chinese Language Day
Chinese Language Day was created by United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010.
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