New poster celebrates mother languages

12 February 2010

'Your mother tongue is a treasure - Use it everyday'

New poster celebrates International Mother Language Day - 21 February

To mark the UNESCO-organised occasion, English Language Partners New Zealand created a poster with the message "Your mother tongue is a treasure - Use it every day". The message is printed in 17 languages. The organisation's 22 centres are distributing the poster to community groups and language centres throughout New Zealand.

CEO Claire Szabo said: "We currently provide a range of language-support programmes to help learners develop their English-language skills.

"While those skills are vital to help people integrate into New Zealand life, it is equally important for effective resettlement that we value mother languages.

"Communities, learners and younger generations need to know that community languages are celebrated and preserved."

The message on the poster is printed in Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, English, Farsi, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Maori, Punjabi, Russian, Samoan, Somali, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese.

For a copy of the poster to display in your workplace contact natoffice@englishlanguage.org.nz . Copies are available while stock lasts.