International Mother Language Day, first announced by UNESCO in 1999, is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and promote multilingualism.

On February 21, 2018, the Rafael Javakh Cultural Educational and Youth Center of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia hosted an event dedicated to International Mother Language Day. It was organized by the “Parnas” Recitation Classes, led by Satik Snkhchyan, and the “Aravot Luso” Choir, led by Irina Gharslyan. The event included classic poetry, sayings of the very greats about the Armenian language, beautiful choir songs.

At the conclusion of the event, remarks were made by Director of the Center, Zhora Snkhchyan and Rev.Father Armash Poghosyan, Pastor of the region. They highly appreciate the level of the literary and musical event.

The Youth Center in Akhalkalaki celebrated International Mother Language Day with a march of the teachers and students towards the statue of Mesrop Mashtots, they laid flowers near the statue and paid tribute to the Great Teacher. Rev. Father Tatev Marukyan, Pastor of Akhalkalaki and nearby regions, also joined the march.

Afterwards, the teachers and students returned to the Center to participate in a competition dedicated to International Mother Language Day. Responsible for the Youth Center in Akhalkalaki, Karine Tadevosyan, offered opening remarks and congratulated the attendees on the occasion of International Mother Language Day. Rev. Father Tatev Marukyan also congratulated the attendees. The participants divided into three separate teams from English, Russian and Georgian languages clubs – “Javakhk”, “Ararat” and “Artsakh” respectively. The competition was a two-stage competition. In the first stage, the teams translated a text from Armenian into English, Russian and Georgian, in the second stage, they had to write an essay “Our Sacred Mother Tongue”, using about 50 words, in 15 minutes.

The students also performed various songs and recited poems. The special jury gave their evaluations; the teams received diplomas and souvenirs. The “Ararat” team won the first place, the “Artsakh” team won the second place, the third place winner was the “Javakhk” team. At the conclusion of the event, the participants expressed their appreciation and gratitude to the Center’s administration for organizing the event and a chance to develop their translation skills.