Dear Friends,
Happy International
Mother Tongue Day!
Bet you did not know it
was International Mother
Tongue Day today ~ or
even that there was a
day set aside solely for
the enhancement of
Mother Tongue language
appreciation and
preservation. That is
okay ~ it's the air we
breath, so that's why we
know! Today people all
around the globe will
celebrate International
Mother Tongue Day,
introduced by UNESCO in
1999 in recognition of
the sanctity and
preservation of all the
vernacular languages in
the world. We thought it
was a great opportunity
to remind people of what
we are up to and why.
Afrikaans, Northern
Sotho (all coming soon)
In celebration of this
day we are re-launching
updated versions of all
our mother-tongue
software in all South
Africa’s 11 official
languages. It's a good
day to remember that we
were the first
innovators to create the
world's first all South
African languages
keyboard and release the
first word processor and
office suite available
in Sesotho sa Leboa,
isiZulu and Afrikaans.
But back to the
present ... we have just
partnered with the
Department of
Communications and the
CSIR in a commitment to
mother-tongue computer
software.
“It is time that South
Africans took pride in
their mother tongues and
worked towards bringing
technology into their
world as opposed to
trying to adapt their
world to technology.
Mother Tongue Languages
Day is an appropriate
time to celebrate this –
and the Department of
Communications, the CSIR
and Translate.org.za are
doing just that –
celebrating our
freedom,” says Dwayne
(Director of
Translate.org.za for new
readers).
In a joint project
funded by the Department
of Communications and
administered by the
CSIR, we delivered
OpenOffice.org and the
Mozilla Firefox web
browser in all 11
official languages. In
celebration of
Mother-Tongue Language
Day, the Department of
Communications, CSIR and
Translate.org.za team
are proud to announce an
agreement that will see
OpenOffice.org, Mozilla
Firefox and Mozilla
Thunderbird updated and
maintained for three
years. This will ensure
that South Africans are
now empowered to create
documents, spreadsheets,
email and browse the web
in their home
languages.
"We are doing it to
increase access to
technology and increase
ICT skills and
awareness, which will
help to narrow the
digital divide.
Government is committed
to creating a better
life and more
opportunities for each
citizen and this is a
tangible way to do
that,” explained Wernher
Friedrich, Director
Internet Access and
Software Development in
the Department of
Communications.
Another benefit to this
all is that all South
Africans can actively
participate in improving
the software, which is
also in-line with the
government’s policy to
support Open Source
Software in its
procurement process and
will assist
organisations such as
the Department of
Science and Technology
and the CSIR who are
migrating to Open Source
Software. “South Africa
needs to stop supporting
the overseas IT industry
by sending millions of
Rand to the so-called
developed world in
unnecessary licensing
fees. It’s time!” says
Dwayne.
ONE FOR THE ROAD
“From the first to the
last moments of our
existence, from
generation to
generation, language
accompanies, serves and
creates us. It is at the
heart of family life,
work, school, politics,
the media, justice and
scientific research. It
is also central to
religion.”
UNESCO Director General,
Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, on
this day last year.
Dwayne Bailey
(012) 460 1095
info at translate.org.za
www.translate.org.za
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