Welcome back to our series sharing Unique Holidays: April 20th, 2022. I would like to ask you to take a look at the Holidays being celebrated today and tell me which Holiday you most want to celebrate and why. Charlie and I are going to celebrate Look Alike Day and dress up like David. Would you like to join us and dress up as someone you like?
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (UNESCO) recognizes six languages as official languages of the UN. These are six of the most spoken languages in the world. Chinese is one of the six languages. In recognition and celebration of these languages, each one was given a holiday. Chinese Language Day is today, April 20th.
Chinese Language Day was created by UNESCO. The goal for this day, is to celebrate multilingual and cultural diversity, and to recognize and celebrate Chinese as one of the six official languages of the United Nations. This holiday also pays tribute to Cang Jie, a legendary figure who invented Chinese characters over 5,000 years ago.
Chinese is the native language of over 1 billion people. There are over 200 dialects of Chinese, with many Chinese languages is so diverse, that they could be considered their own language group. The most common of these is Mandarin, which is the official language or dialect of the People’s Republic of China. Mandarin is also widely spoken in Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. After Mandarin, the most commonly spoken Chinese languages, is Wu, Shanghainese, Hongkongese, and Cantonese.
UNESCO Language Days
The six language days established by UNESCO are:
| Language: | Celebrated On: | Comment: |
| Arabic | December 18 | On this day in 1973, the UN General Assembly adopted Arabic as the sixth official UN language. |
| Chinese | April 20 | Pays tribute to Cang Jie, a legendary figure who invented Chinese characters over 5,000 years ago. |
| English | April 23 | Both the birth and death date of William Shakespeare |
| French | March 20 | Commemorates the founding anniversary of the Organization international de la Francophonie. |
| Russian | June 6 | Honors the birthday of Alexander Pushkin, the father of Russian literature. |
| Spanish | April 23 | Honors Spanish novelist, poet and playwright Don Miguel Cervantes Saavedra, died on April 23. |
It’s Look Alike Day. Time to look like somebody else.
Today’s a day to find someone you really look up to and try to look like them. Start with the hair. Cut and style your hair, as needed, helping you to look like the person you’ve selected. Then, select clothes from your wardrobe or purchase clothes that your lookalike wears. Along the way, make sure to practice and copy their walk, talk, and facial expressions. Try to be as identical to that person as possible.
The best example of look alike are Elvis Presley impersonators, who number in the hundreds, and perhaps even thousands. You also have a look alike somewhere out there because it is said that everyone has someone in the world, and perhaps more than one person, who looks just like them. Called a “Doppelganger”.
Who should you look like? Anyone you want. Pick an actor or actress, or family member.
Look alike contests and parties are a great idea for today.
Volunteer Recognition Day honors the legions of volunteers who dedicate themselves to causes others. Volunteers are making big and small differences in the lives of millions of people all over the world. Volunteers are saving lives and are improving lives and providing comfort. Volunteers assist people, animals, and nature.
Most volunteers do not ask for recognition. They just want to help and to “give back” where they can.
In documenting Holidays, this author attempts to avoid editorializing, and keeps to reporting the facts. I will step away from the norm when speaking to this topic. It is vital and essential that more people get involved. There are so many groups that need volunteer efforts. The needs are so broad and urgent, that everyone can find someplace to volunteer.
Celebrate this “Volunteer Recognition Day by:
- Thanking volunteers for their work
- Getting involved yourself in a volunteer activity.
- Donating to a volunteer group
Volunteers are keeping a big secret from those that don’t volunteer. Volunteer activities are energizing and rewarding. It is lots of fun and camaraderie. Try it an
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
