#GLAD23
Global Language Advocacy Day 2023 is a worldwide event coordinated by the GCLR that will take place on February 22, 2023.
#GLAD23
#GLAD23 builds on the successes of #GLAD22 and is an event meant to bring together language rights advocates around the world for a coordinated day of action, to raise awareness and spark meaningful conversations about the importance of language rights and linguistic justice.
Language rights advocates and organizations supporting language rights around the world are invited to organize activities that promote linguistic justice and support the core message of #GLAD23: Language Rights Save Lives!
To learn more about this year’s theme, read our blog post announcing #GLAD23. Scroll down for a list of scheduled events and activities, and check back throughout the week of February 22nd, as more activities will be added.
#GLAD23 activities
Interpretation in Critical Contexts:
Issues of Access and Quality
Webinar - February 15 - 12:00 - 13:30 EST - Language: English
This was a live event. You can find the recording here.
Join the Language, Culture and Justice Hub at Brandeis University for a webinar about "Interpretation in Critical Contexts: Issues of Access and Quality". Speakers will include scholars and practitioners working on the right to interpretation in contexts such as judicial proceedings, healthcare settings, refugee camps, and immigrant social service provider agencies. The aim of the webinar is to raise awareness among attendees of how crucial interpretation is to the full communication of persons in settings where their fundamental wellbeing, and even their life and death, may be at stake.
Click here to watch the recording.
Organized by:
Language, Culture and Justice Hub
International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life
Breathing through the feet
by Sibusiso Mkhize
Online Screening + Q&A - February 20 - Starting 17:00 GMT - Language: English
Join us for the screening of this short film documenting a performance-based methodology for language revitalisation alongside Q&A session with the director, Sibusiso Mkhize, and the dramaturg/researcher, Dr Claire French.
Breathing through the feet (2022) was developed in response to a contemporary, post-apartheid and Johannesburg-based language ecology. Guided by Mkhize, actors Nomvuyo Buthelezi, Moeketsi Kgotle and Nonhlanhla Precious Masombuka each explored isiZulu, isiXhosa and seSotho in consciousness-raising sessions; wrote autobiographical poetry with these resources; trained in and decolonised compositional tools for performance-making; and, developed tools in dialogue with their poems on the grounds of the University of the Witwatersrand. Breathing through the feet provides access to the methodology for language revitalisation that evolved from this process.
The project, supported by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of the Witwatersrand and Arts Research Africa, is a challenge to the continuation of English-only higher education across Africa, both within monolingual European and Arabo-Islamic universities.
Click here to watch the recording.
Organized by:
The MOSAIC Group for Research on Multilingualism
7000 Languages Workshop
Online Workshop - 21 February - Starting 14:00 EST/ 19:00 GMT - Language: English
This is a live event.
This workshop, delivered by 7000 Languages together with the Indigenous Mapping Collective, will demonstrate how community members can create online language learning materials for their endangered languages, with an emphasis on incorporating mapping software and land-situation learning materials. Each attendee will then have
the opportunity to create a language lesson using the 7000 Languages’ software tools. Attendees will also be able to take the skills learned in this workshop and continue to create additional language learning materials after the workshop. Speaker: Stephanie Witkowski.
Hosted by:
The Firelight Group
Organized by:
7000 Languages
Laura Sadlier Memorial Lecture
Deaf migrants in Sweden
Virtual Lecture - 21 February - Starting 18:00 GMT - Language: Irish Sign Language, English
This lecture - given in Irish Sign Language with interpretation into spoken English - looks at the reality of deaf migrants and refugees in the context of multilingual realities and linguistic human rights.
Click here to register for this lecture.
Organized by:
Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College Dublin
Unidos Por Nevada
Language Access Program
Language Access Initiative Launch - 22 February
Virtual Event - 23 February - Starting 13:30 EST / 18:30 GMT - Language: English
This project will fund the establishment of a Language Access Plan network to ensure that the non-English proficient community in Nevada has access to financial support, resources, and information from many non-profit organizations across the region. Unidos Por Nevada will ensure that culturally specific organizations can continue to educate, reinforce equitable practices, and support the work of the nonprofit sector in Nevada.
Press release: https://www.uwsn.org/celebrating-global-language-advocacy-day-united-way-southern-nevada-receives-1000000-federal
Virtual Event: This meeting will feature a presentation by the Asian Community Development Council (ACDC) to learn about their approach to language access.
Click here to register for this event.
Organized by:
The Language of Trust
Virtual Event - 22 February - 13:00 - 14:00 EST / 18:00 - 19:00 GMT - Language: English
This is a live event.
Our guest, Ingrid Christensen will share her expertise on “Using Trust as Currency”, the “Umbrella of Trust” and “The C’s of Trust”. The C’s of Trust – Why some words are more powerful than others for trust creation. Our guest, Ingrid Christensen will share her expertise on “Using Trust as Currency”, the “Umbrella of Trust” and “The C’s of Trust”. If you are a leader, communicator, or someone who struggles to convey trust, this webinar is for you. Join Women in Localization’s Global Community for our first event in 2023 which will empower you in the area of communication which has become a need post pandemic and in the virtual professional world.
Click here to register for this event.
Organized by:
Language Rights in the Indian Context
Virtual Talk - 22 February - Starting 17:00 IST - Language: English
This talk by Dr. Devina Krishna, an academic and linguist, will highlight the idea of language rights, including instruments protecting linguistic rights. In addition to this, it will also highlight the continued need to protect and nurture the languages spoken by minorities in India
Click here to join the event (no registration necessary).
Organized by:
Dr. Devina Krishna
Eliminating Language Barriers
Virtual Talk - February 22 - Starting 12:00 EST / 09:00 PST - Language: English
This talk organized by Respond Crisis Translators focuses on language violence in the asylum and detention realms, and how we are organizing to combat language violence via language activism. It addresses the ways in which language is weaponized by the carceral state to deny asylum seekers their claims and justify deportation, and how we are organizing to ensure that this does not happen!
Click here to register for this talk.
Organized by:
Our Language Rights
Canada Conference #LAD23
Virtual Conference - February 22 and 23 - 17:00 - 21:00 GMT - Language: English, French, ASL, LSQ
In honour of Language Advocacy Day, the Our Language Rights Canada Conference, sponsored by MCIS Language Solutions, is envisioned as a gathering place for language rights advocates and stakeholders, providing opportunities to meet, share, learn about and collaborate on projects that promote language rights and linguistic justice advocacy across Canada. This Conference is a free, virtual event simultaneously interpreted in both official languages as well as American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ). This year’s theme is “Language, Education, Stories Untold”, highlighting the important role that language education and stories play in preserving culture, history, and fostering a sense of belonging and deeper human connection.
This is the third LAD event. LAD22 included participation from MPPs across Ontario, which resulted in language access being included in three electoral platforms in the Ontario 2022 election.
Click here to register for the Our Language Rights conference.
Organized by:
Endangered Writing Network:
Launch Event
Virtual Event - 24 February - Starting 17:00 GMT - Language: English
Join Pippa Steele and Tim Brooks for the launch of the Endangered Writing Network, a new initiative using insights from research on pre-modern writing systems to contribute to efforts to protect and maintain endangered writing traditions and languages in the modern day.
Click here to join the launch event (no registration necessary).
Organized by:
IEWS project (Visual Interactions in Early Writing Systems)
Language Rights Save Lives
Virtual Event - 24 February - Starting 09:00 GMT - Language: English
As a part of SOAS Linguistics Seminar series, join four experts as they discuss how language rights save lives. The Handbook of Linguistic Human Rights, a landmark publication exploring the intersection of human rights and languages will also be launched. The two editors of this books will join us, along with two contributors to the volume. Participants will receive a discount code for the Handbook. Participants are: Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Robert Phillipson (Copenhagen Business School); Ahmed Kabel (Al Akhawayn University); and Shivani Nag (Ambedkar University Delhi).
Click here to join the event (no registration necessary).
Organized by:
Department of Linguistics, School of Oriental and African Studies, London
Effective Inclusion Through
Language Access, a US Case
Virtual Event - 24 February - Starting 09:00 EST / 14:00 GMT - Language: English
Access to public and private services is a challenge to nearly 30 million people in the United States who don’t speak English. Current policies on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion fail to incorporate language access as a key component. We will discuss the impact of language barriers in health equity and offer tips to work successfully with non English populations.
Click here to join the event (no registration necessary).
Organized by:
Equal Access Language Services
How language rights save lives
and the impact of digital content
on our local languages
Podcast Episode - Language: Wolof and English
This new episode of the Woloftech podcast is a special issue aiming to explain to the Wolof speaking community what language rights are and how they save lives. WoIof Tech also addresses the role that podcasts play in producing digital content using local languages to allow everyone to have access to technological knowledge.
Click here to listen to the Woloftech podcast.
Hosted by:
El Hadji Ibrahima Diago
History Heals: The Significance
of the Untold Story of “Sichuan”
Online Article - Language: English
Louis Lo shares a touching story addressing China’s systematic suppression of the Basurian language to encourage Basurians to acknowledge that their language is not a “dialect of Chinese”. It shares a message of solidarity for those experiencing similar oppressions reassuring them that they are not alone in the struggle against China’s oppression and silent elimination of native languages. This story shows that the struggle is global, but so is the help that's available. Basuria Association is a nonprofit organization registered in the state of New York that concerns primarily about the preservation of Basurian culture and identity, with the Basurian language as a central part.
Click here to read Louis Lo's article.
Written by:
Louis Lo, of Basuria Association
'Dreaming of Words'
A documentary film by Nanda
Documentary - Languages: Dravidian languages and English
Join us for an online screening of 'Dreaming of Words' - a documentary about Njattyela Sreedharan, a fourth standard drop-out, who compiled a dictionary connecting four major Dravidian languages. Travelling across four states and doing extensive research, he spent twenty five years making the multilingual dictionary. This unique dictionary offers a comparative study of Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. 'Dreaming of Words' traces Sreedharan's life, work, love for languages and the struggles to get the dictionary published. The film also explores the linguistic and cultural diversity in India.
Click here to watch this documentary film.
Produced by:
Nanda
Language Rights Save Lives
Blog Post - Language: Spanish and English
This blog post by Irene Gotera of Linguistic Justice focuses on language justice issues and seeks to continue building strategic alliances that will help foster the mission of Linguistic Justice and the Global Coalition for Language Rights globally.
Haz clic aquí para leer este artículo en español.
Click here to read this article in English.
Written by:
Irene Gotera of Linguistic Justice
Interview with a Mam Language Advocate
Qo yolin ex qo lajin tib'aj toklen qyol mam toj junjun tnom
Blog Post - Language: Spanish and English
Katherine Becker interviews Ana Victoria Gómez Lucas, Mam interpreter from Guatemala, about what language rights mean to her, hoping to emphasize the importance of celebrating and protecting Indigenous languages and communities.
Haz clic aquí para leer este artículo en español.
Click here to read this article in English.
Interview between:
Katherine Becker and Ana Victoria Gómez Lucas
Katie's Instagram | Katie's Facebook | Katie's Twitter | Katie's LinkedIn
How Interpreters Save Lives: Round table with a legal and a medical interpreter
Recorded Panel - Language: English
Eco Interpreters is celebrating Global Language Advocacy Day 2023 by hosting a panel discussion with volunteer interpreters who work in legal and hospital settings. The discussion focused on the role of interpreters in upholding language rights and the right to access information in these critical settings. Moderator: Armando Moya (Eco Interpreters), Participants: Silvia Gheorghiu, Artemis Sakorafa.
Click here to watch the recording of this panel.
Hosted by:
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What Does Justice Sound Like?
Online Publication - Language: Krèyol Ayisyen (Haitian Creole) and English
Read Haitian scholar Michel DeGraff’s recent publication “What Does Justice Sound Like?” He describes the fetishization of French in Haiti alongside the devalorization of Kreyól, which is “the only language that can give access to quality education, equal opportunity, and justice for all in Haiti.”
Click here to read this publication in English.
Click here to read this publication in Krèyol Ayisyen (Haitian Creole).
Written by:
Michel DeGraff, of MIT-Haiti Initiative
How do major languages cause
the death of minor languages?
Online Article and Recording - Language: Urdu (recording) and English (article)
Students of the Institute of Management Sciences, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) organized a two-day literary and academic event called Peshawar Literary Festival on February 4 and 5, soon after the January 30 Peshawar mosque blast. One of the sessions on the first day was titled ‘Do majority languages cause death of minority languages?’ This seems to be a simple question, but it contains many underlying factors and reasons. You can watch a recording, or read the article about it.
Click here to watch the recording.
Click here to read the article.
Presented by:
Zubair Torwali
Hosted by:
IBT (Idara Baraye Taleem wa Taraqi)
Language, Life, and Indigenous People
in Australia's Prison System
Blog Post - Language: English
One of two short interviews by Gerald Roche with academics and other experts who work on issues related to language rights, asking them to introduce their work and discuss how language rights help to save lives.
Click here to read the article.
Interviewee:
Dima Rusho-Brincat
Interviewed by:
Gerald Roche
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International Mother Language Day
Poster - Language: Esperanto and others
The World Esperanto Association presented this poster and document about linguistic rights and the right to education in one's mother tongue to the United Nations in New York. These documents have now be made available in several languages.
Click here to read the article.
Created by:
Esperanto por lingvaj rajtoj
World Esperanto Assocation
Language Rights and Language Professionals Save Lives
Blog - Language: English
To honor this year's GLAD theme, "Language Rights Save Rights", MasterWord engaged its team members in a conversation focused on how language professionals save lives and how MasterWord supports the language rights of people in the United States.
Click here to read the article.
Created by:
MasterWord LinkedIn | MasterWord Twitter
MasterWord Facebook | MasterWord Instagram
Translating in a Pandemic
Blog - Language: English
Vermont Language Justice Project provides crucial health information in 16 languages to people with Limited English Profiency in video and audio format. Our project is unique. Our blog post shares the nuts and bolts of our work to address the larger issue of equity in health care with folks with Limited English Proficiency.
Click here to read the article.
Created by:
Alison Segar, Vermont Language Justice Project
Language Rights and Conflict: An Interview with Joe Lo Bianco
Blog - Language: English
One of two short interviews by Gerald Roche with academics and other experts who work on issues related to language rights, asking them to introduce their work and discuss how language rights help to save lives.
Click here to read the article.
Interviewee:
Joseph Lo Bianco
Interviewed by:
Gerald Roche
ဘာသာစကား အခွင့်အရေးများနှင့် ပဋိပက္ခ - Joe Lo Bianco နှင့် တွေ့ဆုံမေးမြန်းခြင်
Blog - Language: Burmese
One of two short interviews by Gerald Roche with academics and other experts who work on issues related to language rights, asking them to introduce their work and discuss how language rights help to save lives.
Click here to read the article.
Interviewee:
Joseph Lo Bianco
Interviewed by:
Gerald Roche
மொழி உரிமைகளும் முரண்பாடுகளும்: ஜோ லோ பியான்கோ உடனான நேர்காணல்
Blog - Language: Tamil
One of two short interviews by Gerald Roche with academics and other experts who work on issues related to language rights, asking them to introduce their work and discuss how language rights help to save lives.
Click here to read the article.
Interviewee:
Joseph Lo Bianco
Interviewed by:
Gerald Roche
Learning in my Own Words: The Right to Home Language and Literacy in Schools
Blog - Language: English
This post synthesizes recommendations from UNESCO publications regarding the development of mother tongue education for linguistic minority students. Critical to realizing language rights is teaching children both content and literacy in their own languages, especially through schools.
Click here to read the article.
Created by:
Sarah CK Moore, University of Maryland College Park, USA
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The Value of Multilingualism in Assam: Healthcare and Beyond
Blog - Language: English, Sylheti, Hindi, Urdu
This post synthesizes recommendations from UNESCO publications regarding the development of mother tongue education for linguistic minority students. Critical to realizing language rights is teaching children both content and literacy in their own languages, especially through schools.
Click here to read the article.
Created by:
An anonymous healthcare professional from Ozai / Hojai, Assam
Reflections from Bhutan on Global Language Advocacy Day
Blog - Language: English
This post introduces the linguistic diversity of Bhutan, and some of the work being done by the Bhutan Oral Literature Project to maintain and revitalize Bhutan's languages.
Click here to read the article.
Created by:
Tashi Tshewang (Bhutan Oral Literature Project)
How we Created the GCLR’s Statement on Understanding and Defending Language Rights
Blog - Language: English
On February 22nd, 2023, the Global Coalition for Language Rights (GCLR) released a short text called Understanding and Defending Language Rights. At the time of writing, this text is available in 17 languages, and more translations are planned. This blog post introduces why and how we wrote this statement.
Click here to read the article.
Click here to read the GCLR statement on understanding
and defending language rights.
Created by:
Gerald Roche & Katie Craig
Language Revitalization on
the Isle of Man and the Ryukyu archipelago in Japan
Blog - Language: English
This blog post introduces language reclamation initiatives around the world, with a focus on Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu archipelago in Japan as well as the Manx language spoken on the Isle of Man. It also shares the authors' experiences of learning minority Indigenous languages.
Click here to read the article.
Created by:
Dr Madoka Hammine and Rob Teare
