Mr. Zaleski welcomed our pupils back with the first assembly of the term, focusing on International Mother Language Day, celebrated on February 21st, 2025.
During the assembly, we explored fascinating language facts through an interactive quiz presented by Mr. Zaleski. Everyone participated by voting with a show of hands and learned the following:
- There are approximately 7,100 languages spoken worldwide.
- Mandarin is the most spoken language globally.
- English is the most common second language, helping people from various countries communicate.
- Taushiro, spoken in Peru, has only one known fluent speaker as of yesterday!
- Esperanto, a constructed language developed around 1870 in Eastern Poland, was designed to be simple, with no exceptions to its grammatical rules!
- Navajo, a Native American language, was used as a code language during World War II that was never broken by any country that American was fighting against.
We also reflected on how our vocabulary expands as we age and the vital role communication plays in our lives. We discussed how hearing loss is no longer a barrier to communication, highlighting the use of sign language. For instance, “Koko” the gorilla learned and used 500 signs to express emotions and communicate.
Everyone enjoyed learning about the richness and diversity of languages and how they continue to shape our world.
