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February 21 is designated by the United Nations as International Mother Language Day. The 2018 theme is "Linguistic diversity and multilingualism count for sustainable development." According to the United Nations webpage (http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/), "To foster sustainable development, learners must have access to education in their mother tongue and in other languages. It is through the mastery of the first language or mother tongue that the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy are acquired. Local languages, especially minority and indigenous, transmit cultures, values and traditional knowledge, thus play an important role in promoting sustainable futures." Find resources for advocating for and supporting mother languages at http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/resources.shtml

Larry Ferlazzo has curated some resources for celebrating mother languages, available here: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2013/02/22/the-best-resources-for-international-mother-language-day/

Participate in the Mother Language Meme Challenge between February 14 and 21. Learn how to make and publish a meme (using the hashtag #MemeML) here: https://mememotherlanguage.wordpress.com/

Join in the celebration on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/theinternationalmotherlanguageday/