Celebrating World English Language Day

23 April is the world’s English language day. The United Nations has started this ritual of observing April 23, as English language day. It is interesting to note William Shakespeare’s birthday is also celebrated on the same date. According to research, the great playwright of all time William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564. Although it is quite impossible to know the exact date of his birth, however, he was baptized on April 26. It is also believed that he was born and died on the same date. 

English language - an introduction

English language belongs to the Indo-European language family and is a West Germanic language. The language was named after Angles, he was from ancient Germanic people who migrated from Anglia. Angalia was a peninsula situated on the Baltic Sea. The closest relatives of English are Scots followed by Low Saxon. English is West Germanic and also has its words that have the influence of Old Norman French and Latin as well as Old Norse (North Germanic language). An important fact about the language is it is often referred to as a world language also named ‘Lingua Franca’ which implies it is a language that bridges the gap created by other languages.

History of English language Day

It was decided by the United Nations department of global communications back in 2010 to celebrate the language day for every six languages. They took the initiative of dedicating a day to a particular language. The main goal was to throw light on cultural diversity and highlight multilingualism.

The Observation of English language day was started in 1946 onwards and relevant people organize a number of activities on this day. Moreover, world book and copyright day are also observed on April 23. During 16th and 17th centuries, which was Shakespeare’s era, the English language was having a rough time and was going through a lot. Shakespeare through his creativity contributed to the betterment of the language and gave hundreds of words and phrases which are still in practice and use even after thousands of years. It is interesting to note here that the words such as ‘gossip’. ‘fashionable’ and ‘lonely’ were all coined by Shakespeare. Moreover, he also proposed to the world these popular phrases such as

• ‘all our yesterdays’
• ‘faint hearted’
• ‘Love is blind’

How the English language is celebrated

English is a vast and universal language. The enthusiastic speakers

 perform a lot of activities to celebrate the day. Different cultural events are organized and the day aims to entertain people with different informational activities. 

Different organizations and institutions conduct

• Book reading events
• Quizzes
• Poetry recitations
• Lituerature exchanges
• Activities to highlight and promote Shakespeare’s contribution

Conclusion

English language day is observed on 23rd April by its speakers across the globe. 23rd April also happens to be the birth and death day of William Shakespeare who has a great contribution to English literature. The evident speakers of the English language celebrate this day by conducting different events, cultural activities, and language exercises.