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The International Mother Language Day, initiated by Bangladesh in 1999, is dedicated to preserving language diversity and promoting the use of mother-languages in education.

Today, we live in a highly multilingual world, with more than 7,000 spoken or signed languages. As a linguist and former professor, I’ve spent much of my life working in this field —and the simplest way to summarize centuries of research in linguistics is the following: 

It is both a unique human faculty and a social construct.

Let’s start with a question: What do these three things have in common?

• “W�dz����”
• “F������”&�Բ�����;
• “Dangerous things”

Most of us would say—nothing.

But in Dyirbal [dʒɜːrbəl], an Indigenous Australian language, these words belong to the same linguistic category. Linguist George Lakoff explored this in his book Women, Fire and Dangerous Things. He argued that languages don’t just label the world. They reflect—and possibly structure—knowledge in different ways. This insight helps us understand why multilingualism is so powerful.

For centuries, linguists have explored fundamental questions about what language is and how it functions in human society.

Questions like: How does language create meaning? Does it shape the way we think? Or does it simply reflect the world around us? Lakoff gives us part of the answer.

There are three other key perspectives that have shaped modern linguistics—and my own thinking about multilingualism. 

Ferdinand de Saussure saw language as a system of signs. Words don’t have fixed meanings—they exist only in relation to other words. Noam Chomsky introduced the idea of universal grammar. He argued that humans are born with an innate ability to learn language and that all languages follow common patterns. Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf showed how language and culture are deeply connected.

• Cognitively, it sharpens problem-solving, strengthens memory, and boosts adaptability. Neurological research confirms this.
• Economically, multilingual workplaces perform better and drive innovation.
• Socially, multilingualism fosters inclusion, belonging, and peace.

Many of you in this room speak multiple languages. I am sure you’ve experienced these benefits firsthand.

We also know that mother-tongue-based multilingual education works. Learning in one’s mother language improves literacy, builds confidence, and strengthens learning. Yet, 40% of people worldwide don’t have access to education in the language they speak at home. Many governments consider multilingual education too complex or expensive.

But the real cost is higher dropout rates, lower literacy, and millions of children left behind because they’re forced to learn in an unfamiliar language.

This is why UNESCO champions mother-tongue-based multilingual education.

So, what must we do to make multilingual education a reality?

Today, we’re launching the , which outlines five key actions:

• Make multilingual education a national priority.
  Multilingual education should be at the core of education policies and not an afterthought. Countries like Nepal and the Philippines have integrated mother-tongue instruction into their national curriculum, and the results are clear: better learning outcomes, stronger engagement.
• Train teachers to embrace linguistic diversity.
  Imagine a teacher in a class where half the students speak a different first language. Without training in multilingual teaching, both the teacher and students struggle.
• Create learning materials in multiple languages.
  Even in countries with strong policies, there aren’t enough books and digital resources in local languages.
• Engage communities in preserving and passing on languages.
  Language isn’t just learned in schools—it’s passed down in families, in songs, in stories. Projects like the Māori language nests in New Zealand show how intergenerational learning can revive languages.
• Use technology to support all languages. 
  AI and digital tools must recognize and support diverse languages. We need speech recognition for Indigenous languages, machine learning models that process minority languages, and open access to language technology. Languages are disappearing at an alarming rate—one every two weeks, by some estimates. Each loss erases centuries of oral history, knowledge, and unique perspectives on the world. With AI-powered translation improving every day, we can find concrete solutions.

Technology can either preserve languages—or accelerate their disappearance.

• AI can document and digitize endangered languages.
• Translation tools can make learning materials accessible in more languages.
• Speech recognition can help revitalize languages that exist only in oral form.

Some initiatives are already leading the way. The Living Dictionaries use digital tools to preserve endangered languages is a good example. But we need more investment.

Why? Because:

1. 90% of online content is in just a few dominant languages.
2. Most AI tools are trained on a small fraction of the world’s languages.

If we don’t design technology to be linguistically inclusive, we risk widening inequalities.

Language is more than a communication tool. It’s a lens through which we see the world. On this 25th anniversary of International Mother Language Day, we need to reaffirm our commitment to linguistic diversity. 

Because protecting languages means protecting knowledge, identity, and human connection. 

𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀&�Բ�����;𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿!