Re: Portuguese Language Day (6 May)

"This day was officially established in 2009 by the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, and in 2019 UNESCO made it a world day -- the first time such a status had been given to a language that isn't an official medium at the United Nations. The case was supportedby two facts: Portuguese isthe most widely spoken language in the southern hemisphere, notably in Brazil; and it was a leading language during the first wave of globalization, introducing loan words into many languages." (Crystal)
 No explanation of why this day. Antonio?

 UNESCO, naturally, honours big languages with days. New Zealand has taken to doing it in weeks, and all the languages so honoured would have to be called small (if not tiny) on a world scale. It started with Maori Language Week, quite a few years ago, at a time when the language still seemed seriously endangered. The week has expanded to a month, but the language seems to have reached a much healthier state for a variety of reasons.
 They have now added Tongan, Samoan, Niuean and some other Pacific islands from which substantial numbers of immigrants have settled here. Those immigrant communities have had varying success in keeping their languages going here.
 Just recently it was announced that we would have Tok Pisin and Solomons Pijin weeks in the near future. (I don't know why Bislama was overlooked.) The actual number of speakers of these in NZ must be even smaller.
 Today is the first day of NZ Sign Language Week. NZSL enjoys national- language status along with Maori, so one can't argue with its inclusion. One of the special events was an Air NZ flight (maybe just an hour's sightseeing jaunt) with all deaf passengers and all cabin crew able to communicate in NZSL.