Days of the Language Institute 2020

This year also the Language Institute of the University of Sarajevo is organizing the traditional Days of the Language Institute. The event runs for a month, from February 21 to March 21, and includes a variety of content at various locations across Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad. This year we are celebrating 48 years of work and have prepared a variety of content.
The first day, International Mother Language Day, February 21, at the Public Library of Sarajevo, Multimedia Center “Mak” (Alipašina 6a), beginning at 13.00, will be held a panel entitled “How the International Mother Language Day was created”. As we know, UNESCO declared International Mother Language Day in 1999. The holiday was created at the initiative of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan). Protests were organized in the state on February 21, 1952, in the organization of the Bengali Movement, when several students in Dhaka were killed by police and army. On this occasion, the participant of the panel is prof. dr. Shahab Yar Khan from Pakistan, the professor in the Department of English Language at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo. Ph.D. Jasmin Hodžić from the Institute will discuss with him his mother tongue, especially the specific language situation related to language in India and Pakistan, similar to the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 22nd to 23rd February, also on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, the Committee of Teachers in Denmark, the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Denmark and the Language Institute organize the conference “Community of the BiH Diaspora in Denmark – a Condition for the Preservation of the Mother Tongue”. From the Language Institute in the conference will participate Ph.D. Alen Kalajdžija, director of the Institute, and Muhidin Čolić, external associate of the Institute.
The first week, i.e. February 24-28 is reserved for Open Doors Days, during which we receive visits from students, students and others interested from 10 am to 2 pm. In addition, we also visit schools and hold workshops and classes dedicated to our mother tongue. This year, a total of 17 schools have applied for the Open Doors Day (Elementary school “Hašim Spahić”, Elementary school “Velešići”, Elementary school “Izet Šabić”, Elementary school “Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević”, Elementary school “Mula Mustafa Bašeskija”, Elementary school “Kovačići”, Elementary school “Grbavica I”, Elementary school “Alija Nametak”, Elementary school “Musa Ćazim Ćatić”, Secondary school “Nedžad Ibrišimović” Ilijaš, Secondary school “Maarif”, “Second Gymnasium”, Elementary school “Sokolje”, Elementary school “Malta”, Secondary school “Zijah Dizdarević” (Fojnica) and Secondary school “Zijah Dizdarević” (separated Kiseljak class). We invite all interested to visit the Institute of Languages during this period. Due to the organization, the visit should be announced a day earlier at the Institute’s mail or telephone.
From March 3 to 9, the exhibition “Thirty Years of Contemporary Linguistics (1990–2020)” will be exhibited at the Gallery of the Municipality of Sarajevo, where the most important books and articles on the Bosnian language will be exposed. The exhibition will be inaugurated by a panel in the Municipal Council Hall on March 3 at 2 pm and will be discussed by Ph.D. Alen Kalajdžija, Director of the Institute, Ph.D. Jasmin Hodžić and MSc. Zenaida Karavdić. The exhibition will be open every day from 10.00 to 14.00.
The panels named “Bosnian Language and International Mother Language Day” will be held on March 11 in Tuzla and Janja, where participants will be Ph.D. Alen Kalajdžija, Director of the Institute, MSc. Aida Kršo and writer Hadžem Hajdarević, and on March 12 in Kakanj, with participants: Ph.D. Alen Kalajdžija, Ph.D. Jasmin Hodžić and Mr. Haris Ćatović.
The main event of this year’s Institute Days – Third Symposium on Bosnian Language will be held on 19 and 20 March in Mostar. This symposium is a continuation of the tradition of the Bosnian language symposiums. The First was held in 1998, and it made major conclusions about the direction of bosnistic’s development. The Second was held only in 2015, when it was concluded that most of the conclusions of the First Symposium were realized, and new tasks were put to bosnistics, including organization of a Bosnian language symposium every five years. The Third Symposium thus represents the realization of one of the conclusions of the Second Symposium. In a situation where we do not have any state body competent for bosnistic, symposia on the Bosnian language in this regard bring together bosnistic’s experts trying to organize and direct their work in a common direction, and Institute incorporates the conclusions from the symposia into its work plans. This year, more than 60 participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad have registered, so we expect constructive conclusions and a large number of new works in the field of bosnistic. The Symposium will also feature the Bosnian Electronic Corps – BEK, which should be open for use this year.
We hope that this rich program will fulfill some of our goals again this year, namely new advances in linguistics, opening up science to the wider society, helping the diaspora to nurture their mother tongue, and informing the local and foreign public about the latest developments in bosnistic.