Today is International Mother Language Day

Today is the International Mother Language Day. It was established in 1999 by UNESCO. Our country has two official languages. But today the focus is on the language of the title nation, the Belarusian. In the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania it was used for legislation, in courts and in the parliament. This year the celebrations center around the 500th anniversary of Belarusian book printing. The National Academy of Sciences holds Mother Language Week, during which linguists discuss current language situation and new approaches to the teaching of the mother tongue.