From a baby's first words to the greatest literature, our ability to connect and express ourselves through language is an essential part of our humanity. Without words, how can we express our feelings, care for our families and loved ones, build prosperous and fair societies, or fight for our rights?
Our mother tongue is part of our identity, and our right to express ourselves in that language is a human right. It's something that is easily taken for granted, but imagine your language is dying out, or that you live in a conflict zone where speaking your mother tongue out loud could bring trouble, or that you are newly arrived in a strange land where your hope of making a living depends on learning a new language, and quickly. (...)