2008, International Year of Languages

On May 16 last year, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, with UNESCO as the lead agency. Multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding and the United Nations has underscored its significance in the promotion, protection and preservation of the diversity of languages and cultures globally. Language is the pedigree or the line of ancestry of nations, one major factor that makes a people unique. The occasion also emphasizes the importance of the equality of the organization’s six official languages, which are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director-General, stated that languages are essential to the identity of groups and cultures. It is a primary factor in the relationship of countries with each other and in successful pursuit of sustainable development amidst a highly globalized environment. In fact, the importance of language is emphasized in achieving the six goals of Education For All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) launched by the United Nations in 2000. As we know, the MDGs include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achieving literacy, learning and life skills, combating diseases, the safeguarding of local and indigenous knowledge and ensuring environmental sustainability.

It is interesting to note that when man was first created, he already used language. Adam gave names to living creatures. So during his time, there was only one common language. We all know about the biblical story of the Tower of Babel as cited in the Book of Genesis Chapter 11, verses 1 to 9, that the whole human race then spoke one and the same language and formed one community. When mankind got together to preserve their (evil) community by building a tower that can reach the high heavens, their speech was confused by divine intervention so that they may be restrained from their ambitiousness. Their speaking became a confusion of noises, all speaking at the same time so that no particular dialogue or sentence could be understood. Thus was man scattered abroad in the face of the earth and their language confounded, hence the word “Babel”. Tribal unity was destroyed as a result and this was the beginning of language diversity.

The world has evolved greatly since that time before Christ (BC). At present, about 5,000 languages are spoken on earth. There were even more dialects spoken in the past, when most people lived in small groups or tribes. As groups of people evolved to become larger states or nations, dialects somehow got lost. This can still happen now if we do not make a conscious effort to preserve the languages. Hence, UNESCO takes the lead in working towards the conservation and defense of the world’s languages and has requested the Secretariat to appoint a coordinator for multilingualism, with a note that “protecting languages is one of the fundamental pillars of cultural diversity.”

With globalization, countries have become borderless, and so more and more are merging together to facilitate world trade and economy. An example is the European Economic Community, which uses English as a common language and the non-dollar “euromoney” as a common currency. If even currency is becoming global, one day may come when there will eventually be one common language, as has been predicted. Preserving multilingualism in an increasingly globalizing environment is a great challenge that the UNESCO will have to face in the years to come.