We live in a world where languages are learnt and used to bring us together, which leads to a great diversity and uniqueness in our environment. Many forget about where we really come from and this day of the year helps to remember our origins.
This 21st of February we celebrate the International Mother Language Day, which aims to preserve cultural differences, in addition to language, that foster tolerance and respect for others. On average, a language disappears every two weeks, taking with it a whole cultural and intellectual heritage. The idea of celebrating this day was a Bangladeshi initiative. It was accepted in the UNESCO General Conference of 1999 and has been continued worldwide since 2000.
Cultural and linguistic diversity is important to UNESCO because multilingual and multicultural societies exist through their languages, which transmit and preserve traditional knowledge and cultures.
40% of the world's population does not have access to education in a language they speak or fully understand. However, there have been achievements in multilingual education thanks to the awareness of mother tongues, and a growing commitment to their development in society.
At Libros de las Malas Compañías we would like to celebrate this day by giving some people the opportunity to listen to stories of their childhood in their mother tongue. Today we have brought you five stories that belong to different books of our collection Cuentos antiguos, all of them narrated in their mother tongue, we hope you enjoy them.
Romanian Wonder Tales
Norwegian tales
Cinderello
The Beauty of the Earth and other Albanian Tales from the Living Voice of the People
