Celebrating the English language at the United Nations

English Language Day at the United Nations is celebrated on the 23^rd of April — the date traditionally observed as both the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare. As well as being the English language's most famous playwright, Shakespeare had a significant impact on modern-day English. Shakespeare's creativity with language meant he contributed hundreds of new words and phrases: 'gossip'; 'fashionable' and 'lonely' were all first used by Shakespeare. He also invented phrases like 'break the ice', 'faint-hearted' and 'love is blind'.

English is one of the languages of international communication. People from different countries and cultures are increasingly able to communicate with each other in English, even if it is not their first language. This makes it an essential tool for global cooperation and diplomacy.

At the United Nations, English is one of the two working languages, along with French.

Virtual event: Shakespeare at the UN

The UN Movie Society presents Shakespeare at the UN in celebration of the English language day.

 

Date: 23 April 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m. (EST)
Flyer with details of the event

Watch premiere on UN YouTube Channel  |  UN WEB TV

Language days at the UN

English Language Day is the result of a 2010 initiative by the UN's Department of Global Communications, establishing language days for each of the Organization's six official languages. The purpose of the UN's language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity, and to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization.

Under the initiative, UN duty stations around the world celebrate six separate days, each dedicated to one of the Organization's six official languages. With the goal of increasing awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of each of the six working languages among the UN community, Language Days at the UN aim to entertain, as well as to inform.

Six Language Days:

Multilingualism and the UN

An essential factor in harmonious communication among peoples, multilingualism is of particular importance to the United Nations. By promoting tolerance, multilingualism ensures effective and increased participation of all in the Organization’s work, as well as greater effectiveness, better outcomes and more involvement.

The balance among the six official languages has been an ongoing concern of the Secretary-General. From 1946 to the present, numerous activities have been undertaken to promote the use of the official languages, and to ensure that the United Nations, its goals and actions, are understood by the widest possible public.

In its resolution of 6 December 1999 (A/RES/54/64), the General Assembly invited the appointment of a senior Secretariat official to serve as coordinator of questions relating to multilingualism.