Language and culture are intrinsically linked. Imagine a culture without its own music, films, literature, sayings and expressions. It would be petty boring right? Now imagine arriving in a new country and having to learn not just a new language, but a new culture, a new way of life too.

You arrive in Iraq and don’t speak a word of Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmen, Syriac or Armenian. Suddenly navigating your local area, getting the bus or meeting new people isn’t so easy. Then on top of that, you’ve got to contend with the local dialects and accents. It would be a huge challenge, and it’s one that all of the young people we support face when they first arrive in the UK.

Ask an English person how many languages they speak and no doubt it will be one. Two at a push. Ask one of our Risers, Breadwinners or Proofers, how many languages they speak and I guarantee you it will be three, four, five. Six or seven at a push. Collectively as a community we speak over 30 different languages!

That’s why we’re celebrating International Mother Language Day - to recognise the extraordinary cultural and linguistic richness of our Breadwinners community. Our young people teach us so much about resilience, motivation and kindness, as well as amaze us with their language skills.

To get a taste of the breadth of languages in our community, we asked our young people and mentors to translate our slogan, ‘Fresh bread, fresh start.’ Go on, have a practice!

Buru kura, kura damine - Bambara

خبز جديد ، بداية جديدة - Arabic

Pane fresco, nuovo inizio - Italian

Pão fresco e fresco começo - Portuguese

نان تازه، اغاز تازه - Persian

Alabapade akara alabapade ibere - Yoruba

Rooti cusub, bilaaw cusub - Somali

Ebread ogbon. Evinnadasunen - Bini

新面包，新开始 - Mandarin

سەمونی تازە, دەستپێکردنێکی تازە - Kurdistan Sorani

Buke e fresket , fillim i ri - Albanian

νέο ψωμί νέα αρχή (neo psomi, nea arhi) - Greek

Neues brot, neuer anfang - German

Vers brood, een nieuw begin - Dutch

புதிய பாண், புதிய ஆரம்பம் (puthiya pan, puthiya arambam) - Tamil

Pan fresco, nuevo comienzo - Spanish

Pudhiya dhaanyam, pudiya thoddakam - Malayalam

Pain frais, nouveau départ - French

Next time you’re at one of our markets, how about picking up more than just bread and a pastry, and learn some new words in Persian, Albanian, Arabic or Somali too?!

Celebrating International Mother Language Day