Happy New Year, everyone!
2008 is the International Year of Languages, as announced by the United Nations General Assembly. This distinction means that this year, the UN will give special attention to the theme of linguistic diversity, including strategies of both language preservation and language learning.
Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, lists some of the ways that such emphasis can have a far-reaching impact: "As factors of social integration, languages effectively play a strategic role in the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; as supports for literacy, learning and life skills, they are essential to achieving universal primary education; the combat against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases must be waged in the languages of the populations concerned if they are to be reached; and the safeguarding of local and indigenous knowledge and know-how with a view to ensuring environmental sustainability is intrinsically linked to local and indigenous languages."
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