UN English Language Day on April 23: All you need to know

Today (April 23) is UN English Language Day. The day coincides with World Book Day and both birthday and death day of legendary English author William Shakespeare.

UN English Language Day is celebrated to mark the development, history, culture and achievements associated with the language.

There is no denying the fact that English is the most widely spoken language in the world and therefore, it is known as lingua franca of the modern era. English is also the working language of the United Nation (UN) aloing with French. English Language Day is the result of a 2010 initiative by the Department of Global Communications.

Under the initiative, the UN's duty stations celebrate six separate days and each day is dedicated to one of the six official languages of the UN globally.

The language days are as follows:

Arabic (December 18)

Chinese (April 20)

English (April 23)

French (20 March)

Russian (June 6)

Spanish (April 23)

The first World English Language Day was celebrated on April 23, 2010.

English is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world and it is the official language of over 50 nations across the world. Notably, one out of five people can speak or understand the language.