English Language Day, yes, it is celebrated as the UN English Day. It is observed and celebrated annually on April the 23rd. This event was originally established by the UN’s Department of Public Information in the year 2010. It was observed to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity.
So, one would want to know why we celebrate English Language Day? It is specifically called the English Language Day and is celebrated only on the 23rd of April each year because it is thought to be Shakespeare’s birthday and the anniversary of his death as well. That is why this day was chosen to be celebrated as the English Language Day. Besides Shakespeare being the most famous playwright in the English language, Shakespeare left a huge impact on modern-day English.
The significance of English Language Day remains to this day, as well. The father of the English language, Mr. Geoffrey Chaucer, is said to have been born in London sometime between the year 1340 and the year 1344; the exact year is unknown.
The question here is, how can we celebrate World English Language Day? Mentioned below are a few English Language Day activities that are commonly used to celebrate the English Language Day around the world:
Pictionary game
This is such a fun game for kids, where one kid is the drawer and this kid has to choose a card from a whole deck of specially made Pictionary cards. Then, the drawer has to try to draw the picture that is printed on the card. The rules are that the pictures drawn should not contain any numbers or letters, and the drawer cannot use any spoken clues for the kids that are guessing the picture.
The Mime.
This game is one of the most effective guessing games. One kid has to volunteer and come forward so that the host or the teacher can secretly give them a word, a phrase or even a sentence. Then, the kid who volunteered has to mime away the word, phrase or the sentence that was given and the rest of the students or the kids have to try and guess what the volunteer is actually trying to say and what does the word, phrase or the sentence really mean.
Hot Seat.
Firstly, you have to divide the students into teams. Each team has to nominate one person who will be in the hot seat. Now, the entire team has to get together and describe a word using synonyms and antonyms, as well as give definitions of the word to their teammate on the hot seat. The student in the hot seat cannot see the word but can only listen to the other teammates in the group, and the challenge is to try and guess the word to score a point for the team.
Board Race
The board race game is played by two students at a time. The game is to run from one end of the classroom towards the board at the other end of the classroom and write the answer to the question that is already mentioned on the board by the teacher. The first person to finish writing the correct answer will score a point. The class can be divided in two, so each student is in a competitive pair.
Word Jumble Race.
First, print sentences on a sheet, and then you have to literally cut up the sentences into individual words for this game. Then put the cut sentences into a hat, cup, bowl, or any other object, like even a bag, from which you can have the kids pick out the words until the children come up with the sentences in full. The kids have to keep finding words and set them aside separately until the whole sentence makes sense. This activity can also be done by splitting the class into teams as well.
Some other English Language Day activities include games where you can have all the students in the class or all the children in the house to do some research and find fun facts about English. This way, kids will also learn the importance of English Language Day because to understand its significance, English Language Day is necessary for them. Children can then present their research to everyone in the class or at home.
You can also host a book club where students can bring an English book they are currently reading into class and describe it to the entire class and tell them why they would recommend that book to others. The importance of English Language Day is fulfilled when children not only learn about these things but also put them into practice by carrying on these good teachings.
Among these English Language Day activities are a few other fun games for kids. You could have some word games for kids or something like spelling bee, or even games like scrabble.
Now that we know so much about the significance of English Language Day and the importance of English Language Day, one may wonder what the aim of celebrating the English Language Day is.
The aim of the International English Language Day is to promote linguistic and cultural diversity, multilingualism, and the preservation of the English Language. The encouragement is to protect all languages, especially the ones that are endangered. The whole celebration is part of an initiative by the United Nations that celebrates a total of six official languages and has dedicated days for the same. So, besides English, there are six other languages that are celebrated and those are Arabic Language Day, Chinese Language Day, French Language Day, Russian Language Day, and Spanish Language Day.
You may have never known some of these fun facts about the English language:
- The English language originated from North West Germany and the Netherlands.
- English is spoken by a total of 952 million people around the globe.
- In the English language, most grammar and spelling follow standardized rules.
- In the English language, the most used adjective is ‘good’.
- English is called the language of the sky.
Also Read: 10 Interesting Facts About Rabindranath Tagore
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