Internationally Minded: Mother Tongue

We can learn from other countries and cultures and find appreciation of our differences through open-mindedness. Language is involved in all learning and provides the support to the inquiry that is experienced in our classrooms on a daily basis. There are many students in our community, however, that are learning in a language other than their Mother Tongue (primary or first language).

Officially observed since 2000, Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on the 21st of February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The date corresponds to the day in 1952 when students from the University of Dhaka, Jagannath University and Dhaka Medical College, demonstrated for the recognition of Bengali as one of the two national languages of East Pakistan, near the Dhaka High Court in the capital of present-day Bangladesh.

Throughout the month of February we’ll be sharing ways in which Spicewood highlights and celebrates Mother Tongue in our community through our student broadcast, social media, and Ms. Kim’s weekly newsletter. This week we’re highlighting our very own library.

Did you know that our very own library has a Mother Tongue section?

With almost 20 different languages represented, it’s a great place to explore different languages represented from around the world. Our hardworking librarian, Laura Reeb, is always looking for new titles to add too! Be sure to swing by the library to check this section out and let her know if there are any favorite book titles in your Mother Tongue we can add to our collection.