Languages are a prerequisite to communicating and interacting with people. The United Nations work with most countries and regions and hence uses the main languages to communicate. There are six official languages of the United Nations. They use these languages in the UN meetings where the official UN documents are written. The Department of global communications in the United Nations has worked together with the relevant people and has established each day for the UN’s six languages. They have dedicated the days to celebrating multilingualism and diversity in culture. They also want to ensure that they promote all these languages equally. The language days aim to entertain and facilitate the purpose and create awareness and respect for the people in terms of history, culture, and achievements.
These are the six languages of the United Nations.
- Arabic
- Chinese
- English
- French
- Russian
- Spanish
The three most important languages are
- Arabic
- Chinese
- French
- Arabic language
The Arabic language works as the one strong pillar of the cultural diversity of humanity. It happens to be one of the most widespread and spoken languages all over the world. More than 400 million people speak this language in the world. Arabic speakers are expanded all over the Arab region and their neighboring countries. Arabic is also a sacred language of the Muslims and the language of the Quran and prayer. Moreover, Arabic also works as a liturgical language of Christian people in the Arab region. Also, much Jewish literature and religious content has been written in this language since the middle ages.
Learning Arabic opens a gateway of opportunities to a new world that is full of diversity. Arabic is one of the ancient languages and it has prevailed as the language of history for centuries. It has also been the language of politics, science, and literature. Moreover, it has great influence in the Islamic world such as Turkish, Persian, Urdu Kurdish, and Malay. The native Arabic speakers can also chip into the Arabic translation services.
Arabic was observed annually on December 18. United Nations started observing this day in 2012 seeking to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity. The date of 18th December was selected due to the fact that it was in 1973 when the General Assembly accepted Arabic as the official language of the United Nations.
- Chinese Language
Three important languages of the United Nations
It was a delegate from China who suggested to United Nations to celebrate Chinese language day. The day April 20 got selected in order to commemorate the contribution and work of Cangjie, the ‘ancestor of Chinese characters. Since the first celebration of Chinese language day on November 12, 2010, it has become a norm that people have started understanding Chinese culture. The United Nations headquarters in New York launches colorful activities including art exhibitions learning forums, lectures fashion, and traditional opera exhibitions as well when Chinese Day is around the year.
Additionally, United Nations offices in Bangkok, Geneva, Nairobi, and other agencies also hold exhibitions lectures, and interesting quizzes with other activities to highlight the significance of the Chinese language and culture. Chinese translation services are also in demand due to the fact that this language has a massive number of speakers and the Chinese market offers enormous opportunities.
The Chinese language is another one of the most ancient languages on the earth. Mandarin Chinese is the traditional variant of the Chinese language and there is a new modern variant of simplified Chinese which is easier as compared to the previous one.
- French language
French is a romance language coming from the Indo-European family. There are more than 80 million speakers of the French language. The language in total has 270 million people speakers. French is one of the most popular languages in the world. It works as an official language in 29 countries all across multiple continents. French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
United Nations celebrate French language day on the 20th of March. They celebrate the day to commemorate the history culture and use of each language. The selection of the 20th March for French Day has been made with reference to March 20, 1970, which marks the creation of the Agency for cultural and technical cooperation that later became the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF). there is a francophone community in Canada and they speak a different variant of the French language. Therefore, it is important to be clear about the dialects and nuances of the French language while hiring for French translation services.
In order to emerge from the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to continue to adopt the approach and the mobilizing of the other components. UN believes in multilingualism and celebrating diversity and harmony among different cultures and nations. They also believe in promoting tolerance and ensuring the effective participation of the people in the work process of the organization.
Conclusion
Arabic, Chinese, and French are three of the important language of the United Nations among a total of six. These languages are quite ancient and have traditional variants which is a little tough in terms of language learning. United Nations celebrates Arabic, Chinese, and French on the 18th of December, 20th of April, and 20th of March simultaneously. All these days are celebrated to promote multilingualism, diversity, and the rich culture of these languages.
