Somali, Samoan, Singhalese, Serbian – these are just a few of the more than 90 mother tongue languages spoken in Canberra, according to the 2021 Census. 

That makes the ACT one of the most linguistically diverse places in the country and the natural home for the International Mother Language Movement. Every year it celebrates the UNESCO-designated Mother Language Day on February 21, proclaimed in recognition of the day February 1952 when Bengali-speaking uni students in what is now Bangladesh were shot for using their mother tongue. 

Even now, UNESCO estimates, globally 40 per cent of the population does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand.

The 2024 Mother Language Day Walk around Lake Burley Griffin will be held on Sunday, February 25.

With a linguistically diverse bunch of Bengali, Welsh, Benin, Telugu, Indonesian and Portuguese speakers heading up the committee, the plan is to have a fun family day celebrating the importance of preserving all languages, especially those endangered in this country. 

President Zamir Hossain says language is linked with cultural and cultural identity, so that the demise of any language is a loss of identity for the community involved.

The event has grown in popularity since its inception in 2014, with community groups, diplomats, UN reps and politicians walking around the lake. 

The 2024 International Mother Language Day march starts at 10.30am at the international flag display at Commonwealth Place and finishes near the police memorial, adjacent to the Kings Avenue Bridge with a picnic, barbecue and language games for children on February 25