On 24 May, we celebrate Cyrillic Alphabet Day, also known as ‘Saints Cyril and Methodius Day’, which is also a national day in several Eastern European countries like North Macedonia or Bulgaria, where it is referred to as the ‘Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture and the Slavonic Alphabet’. This day is celebrated with parades, cultural events and other activities, by more than 250 million people who share the Cyrillic alphabet. It is used for over 50 languages such as Belarusian, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian, Turkmen, Ukrainian or Uzbek.
During these festivities, people commemorate Saints Cyril and Methodius. These missionaries from Thessalonica are considered the creators of the Cyrillic Alphabet, which derives from Greek, but is also influenced by the older Glagolitic language.
If you want to learn more about the Cyrillic alphabet and practise your interpreting skills, check the Macedonian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Russian and Bulgarian sections of the Speech Repository.