UN Office in Yerevan hosts English Language Day observation

PanARMENIAN.Net - The UN Office in Yerevan hosted an observation of the English Language Day, with students, university teaching staff and journalists participating.

The goal of the event is to promote multilingualism, cultural diversity and to educate youth on the essential role of the UN official languages. As per some estimates more than 500 million people are English native speakers in the world. The English language is among the top 10 most-spoken languages.

Over 100 students participated in the performances and presentations, promoting the English language. The event was organized by the UN Department of Public Information (UNDPI) jointly with the Yerevan State University English Language Section of the Department of Romance-Germanic Philology.

The event was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as embassies of India, UK and U.S.

The UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative Bradley Busetto, the Ambassador of India Suresh Babu, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom Jonathan James Aves, the Ambassador of the United States of America John Heffern, the Head of MFA Department of International Organizations Vahram Kazhoyan and the Rector of the University Aram Simonyan spoke about the role of the English language in the UN, English language traditions, culture and opportunities to study English in Armenia.

The UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative said: “English is a beautiful and rich language and it plays crucial role in spreading the message of the UN. Each UN document or speech is interpreted in English. The range of words used is as broad as are the concerns of the world, ranging from political discourse to legal affairs, from climate change to human rights, from finance and administration to questions of economic and social development. That is why I am so delighted to see strong interest among Armenian youth to the English language, knowledge of which is like a key which opens doors to the myriads of new opportunities.”

The organizers and students of Yerevan State University received specially designed Certificates of Appreciation from the UNDPI.

Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the six official languages of the UN.

Starting from 2010, the UNDPI in New York has announced the launch of “Language Days at the UN”, an initiative which seeks to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity. The UNDPI together with its partners marks Days of all official languages of the UN throughout 2013.