News: CBAAC blames foreign language adoption for Africa’s under-development

May 8, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on Leadership Nigeria.com on 8 May 2009
By Isaac Aimurie, Abuja

The Director/Chief  Executive of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), Professor Babatunde Babawale, yesterday in Abuja, blamed Africa’s under-development on the adoption of foreign languages for socio-economic transactions.

Babawale, who spoke at this year’s  CBAAC public lecture with the theme; ‘African Languages, African Development and African Unity’, noted that while it is true that Africa and her people “spread all over the world occupy a place of special importance in world history, it can be rightly argued that Africans seem to be the primary architects of their misfortunes in the areas of development and unity given our collective preference for and our willingness to celebrate, at the slightest opportunity, the pre-eminence of foreign languages against sustained interest in our very rich languages”.

Continuing, he said, “the long-standing decline in the usage and patronage of African indigenous languages accounts for widening communication gap between the governors and the governed, as well as the noticeable disparity between potentials, development policies and the ends to which policies are committed”.

The CBAAC boss observed that indigenous languages harbour within the socio-cultural, agricultural, medical, scientific and technological knowledge “which our ancestors bequeathed to our generation and those after us”, regretting that African languages face extinction and preference for foreign languages “is a clear manifestation of the triumph of forces of domination”.

In his address, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Senator Bello Gada, noted, “what is left of our language due to the displacement it suffered under colonialism is endangered by globalisation. We have failed to discover that the foundation of our problems in the educational sector lies in the absence of our mother tongue, for instruction in schools and at developing curriculum. Similarly, our desire for technological advancement and greatness can only be driven by the use and development of our indigenous languages”.

Citing the examples of  China and Japan which made remarkable progress in technological advancement, through the preservation of their language and other aspects of their culture, the minister urged Nigerians to see the and proclaim the goodness in their mother tongue.

Guest lecturer at the event, Professor Kwesi Kwaa Prah, of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society in Cape Town, South Africa, submitted that African cannot make progress unless she takes indigenous language seriously. The imposition of English language on Africans by the colonial masters, in his view, was to serve their selfish interests.

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South African Book Development Council (SABDC) Indigenous Publishing Programme: Call for Applications

May 7, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on SA Book Council.co.za on 7 May 2009

SOUTH AFRICAN BOOK DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (SABDC)

INDIGENOUS PUBLISHING PROGRAMME

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

The SABDC is the representative body of the South African Book Sector. The
Indigenous Publishing Programme is one of the SABDC’s programmes to stimulate
growth and development in the sector. It aims to increase indigenous-language publishing
and to support the ongoing production of South-African-authored books in the local
languages.

The SABDC invites registered publishing companies to submit applications for the
publishing of general creative works (including novels, short stories, poetry, drama,
children’s literature, etc.) Each submission should be an original work written in one of
the local languages.

If you are a South-African-owned and -controlled company, please apply. This
programme also contributes to the transformation imperatives of the South African Book
Development Council.

CLOSING DATE: 12 JUNE 2009

Application forms are available from the South African Book Development Council
(SABDC) offices or can be downlaoded from www.sabookcouncil.co.za

For more information contact the SABDC offices at 021-914-8626. Information can also
be obtained on the above website.

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Preserving Languages Is About More Than Words

May 5, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on WashingtonPost.com on 5 May 2009

By Kari Lydersen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 16, 2009; Page A0

The traditional Irish language is everywhere this time of year, emblazoned on green T-shirts and echoing through pubs. But Irish, often called Gaelic in the United States, is one of thousands of “endangered languages” worldwide. Though it is Ireland’s official tongue, there are only about 30,000 fluent speakers left, down from 250,000 when the country was founded in 1922.

Irish schools teach the language as a core subject, but outside a few enclaves in western Ireland, it is relatively rare for families to speak it at home.

“There’s the gap between being able to speak Irish and actually speaking it on a daily basis,” said Brian O’Conchubhair, an assistant professor of Irish studies at the University of Notre Dame who grew up learning Irish in school. “It’s very hard to find it in the cities; it’s like a hidden culture.”

Irish is expected to survive at least through this century, but half of the world’s almost 7,000 remaining languages may disappear by 2100, experts say.

A language is considered extinct when the last person who learned it as his or her primary tongue dies. Last month, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched an online atlas of endangered languages, labeling more than 2,400 at risk of extinction.

Hot spots where languages are most endangered include Siberia, northern Australia, the North American Pacific Northwest, and parts of the Andes and Amazon, according to the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, a nonprofit partnering with National Geographic to record and promote disappearing tongues.

Language extinction has been a phenomenon for at least 10,000 years, since the dawn of agriculture.

“In the pre-agricultural state, the norm was to have lots and lots of little languages,” said Gregory D.S. Anderson, director of the Living Tongues Institute. “As humans developed with agriculture, larger population groups were able to aggregate together, and you got larger languages developing.”

Languages typically die when speakers of a small language group come in contact with a more dominant population. That happened first when hunter-gatherers transitioned to agriculture, then during periods of European colonial expansion, and more recently with global migration and urbanization. The spread of English, Spanish and Russian wiped out many small languages.

“As long as people feel embarrassed, restrained or openly criticized for using a particular language, it’s only natural for them to want to avoid continuing to do what’s causing a negative response, whether it’s something overt like having your mouth washed out or more subtle like discrimination,” Anderson said.

Russian-language-only policies have virtually extinguished many Siberian languages, including Tofa, which lets speakers use a single word to say “a two-year-old male, un-castrated, ridable reindeer.”

In the United States and Australia in past decades, the government forced native peoples to abandon their languages through vehicles such as boarding schools that punished youth for speaking a traditional tongue. Many Native American and aboriginal Australian languages never recovered. The United States has lost 115 languages in the past 500 years, by UNESCO’s count, 53 of them since the 1950s. Last year, the Alaskan language Eyak disappeared with the death of the last speaker.

Indigenous groups also may abandon localized tongues for a dominant indigenous alternative, such as Quechua in South America. Or they might shift to a pidgin, or hybrid, of various local languages.

Extinct languages can be revived, especially when they have been recorded.

“But when you skip a generation, it’s hard to pick a language back up again,” said Douglas Whalen, president of the Endangered Language Fund, which gives grants to language-preservation projects. “You need a community that is really committed and will bring children up from birth in the second language, even if they themselves are not the most fluent speakers.”

Michael Blake, an associate professor of philosophy and public policy at the University of Washington, said languages have always changed and disappeared over time, and he argues against the idea that all languages should be preserved.

“When we have indigenous languages in danger because of what we’ve done to these communities, that’s the real reason” behind preservation pushes, he said. “But it’s a much more complicated argument. It doesn’t mean every language now has the right to be immortal.”

Preservation proponents say there are cultural and pragmatic reasons to save dying languages. Many indigenous communities have in their native tongues vast repositories of knowledge about medicinal herbs, information that could provide clues to modern cures. The Kallawaya people in South America have passed on a secret language from father to son for more than 400 years, including the names and uses of medicinal plants. It is now spoken by fewer than 100 people. Preserving languages is also key to the field of linguistics, which could offer a window into the workings of the brain.

The Living Tongues Institute recruits youth who are not fluent in their traditional tongue to become “language activists,” using digital equipment to document their elders’ voices and learn the language themselves. This creates a record and builds pride in the language.

Such pride has been key to a modest popular resurgence of the Irish language. Paddy Homan, an Irish musician and social worker who immigrated to Chicago two years ago, thinks the 1990s’ “Celtic Tiger” economic boom was a major boost for Irish.

“It used to feel like a sin to speak the Irish language; the English made us feel bad about ourselves, like we were just a nation of alcoholics,” said Homan, 34. “Now we feel proud, and speaking Irish is the fashionable thing to do.”

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The ‘Linguicide’ of African Culture

April 29, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on TrendUpdates.com on 29 April 2009
By GSerrano

The ‘Linguicide’ of African Culture

The very definition of African literature can be fodder to endless debate. What qualifies as African literature, anyway? For starters, what is indigenous literature, in the first place? The polemics in the debate contains the two most important factors: is African literature about Africa or the African experience? Are the writings of an African who is not based in Africa qualified as African literature?

The African language is more than a mere means of communication. It is the very core and soul of the African identity. The political facility of language can be used to unify a people. The use of native languages will yet be the unshackling of the African people from centuries of slavery and colonialism. Erasing a people’s language is like erasing their memory. Without the people’s traditional language, the country is spiritually empty, economically disenfranchised, and politically marginalized. This is, of course, the typical experience of colonized people. Africa is not unique in this experience.

Some African writers call the adoption in Africa of foreign languages as the “linguicide’ of African society and culture. The eradication of the country’s native languages, with the aid of foreign tongues, is tantamount to the death of a people’s collective memory. Thus, the death of culture follows and colonialism is successfully assimilated by the population.

Unfortunately, it is Africans themselves that have killed the African languages. Blame it on the comprehensive spread of colonial influence on the continent. Most Africans, themselves, including African writers have consciously chosen to use foreign languages. If Africa has become proficient in one language, that language is sadly foreign.

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Is education in mother tongue important for a child?

April 25, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on Gulf Times.com on 25 April 2009

undefinedMohsen al-Suwaidy, From: Qatar
The answer to this question really depends on the mother language we are talking about and how strong it is among its speakers and mainly their attachment to it.
Generally speaking, teaching in two languages is – in most of the cases – is not harmful. After all, you cannot forget that the mother language is spoken in the house and it should be exceptionally weak in order feel a threat from outsiders.
However, one should take into consideration that not all students have either the readiness, the ability or the facility to learn in a foreign tongue.
That being said if you impose a foreign on a child, that would cause frustration and disappointment.
As a native Arabic speaker, I don’t find it harmful if we give scientific lessons in English. Our Arabic culture and tradition would not be effected at all because of the medium of instruction, and I can say firmly that no other language on earth can beat ours, not because it is the language of the Qur’an that God promised to preserve forever, but because Arabic has the ability to include all scientific expressions.
The parents in house have a decisive role in this process to keep the identity of the child.
Not only that we have to expose ourselves to other languages, but also encourage talented children to translate books from other languages into Arabic.
It is true that many developed countries like Germany, Japan and France impart education in their own languages. We respect and understand their attitude.

Noorullah Basha Safdar From: India
I think children should receive their education, and generally acquire their knowledge, only in their mother tongue until the age of ten, before being exposed to other languages or cultures. The reason is that children, before the age of ten, are easily influenced by their surrounding cultures and habits and that indeed constitutes a real threat to their identity.
I joined an Arabic college in India, where I studied Arabic, at the age of ten, and that happened only after I acquired knowledge in my mother tongue.  At a later stage, studying Arabic proved useful for memorising the Holy Qur’an and also to open up to the Arabic cultures while keeping my roots and heritage. Not only that it helped me to get a job in Qatar, but more important it was useful to deal with the local society without losing my Indian identity that I am proud of even after 17 years in Qatar.
My only son, now 12, had been studying in  a Doha Indian school where the medium of instruction was English until I moved him recently to an Arabic school at the age of nine and that made it easier for him to memorise Qur’an.
I agreed with my wife, an Arabic speaker, to speak with our son and four daughters in our mother tongue so that they do not to lose their identity. It is really a crucial issue and it should be done in a well-measured way.

Maite Naudan From : France
According to most studies, a bilingual education is very profitable for a child though he can never be cent percent bilingual and will always be more comfortable in one language than in the other in certain fields. To learn English (or/and any another language)  in the early years parallel to an education in its own language, doesn’t affect the mother tongue.
On the contrary, it’s proven that learning a foreign language in the early years (before 12) positively affects the capacity of children to understand foreign languages and the mother tongue as well. And it will give them the keys to a better understanding of other cultures, which means an ability to easily adapt themselves to new cultures.
There is no doubt, that nowadays, every one should learn English, and a second foreign language, if possible. Having an education in a foreign language is not a problem. However, it can be good for a child if the mother tongue is still taught a few hours per week and spoken at home.
Studying a widely spoken foreign language opens many doors to  children like the opportunity to study abroad, the ability to visit other countries and understand their cultures. In the early years, a child can learn three languages if he is intensively in contact with them. One thing that a parent should not do is speak to his child in a language he is not familiar with.
In countries like France and Germany, more and more schools try to develop early teaching of languages and bilingual schools are gaining importance.
An education in English sometimes leads people to ignore other languages because they think more or less everyone understands them.

Edriss Taleb Ahmed From: Morocco
I think that educating children in a language other than their mother tongue would expose them to more information that might not be available in their own language.
There is no monopoly nowadays of any one language over information technology although all agree that English is the most widely used in the world and speaking or understanding it is a huge advantage for one and all.
But native English speakers themselves encourage their children to learn foreign languages and that says something.
In Morocco, we call a person who speaks only one language as “uneducated”. Most of the parents allocate extra funds to enroll their children in foreign schools as they know that the mother tongue cannot be easily beaten because it is the language spoken in the house.
We know that the French language is widely used and taught in North Africa but we have never allowed that to affect our Arabic identity.
I think that my country serves as a model to follow when it comes to the issue of medium of instruction. On the one hand, we recently had legislations that consolidated the status of Arabic as the county’s official language but on the other hand, our country encourages students to learn more languages in order to meet the challenges of a modern world and close the educational gap with the West.

Aicha Oudjet From: Canada/Algeria
Instruction through the mother tongue is very important to build the personality of children , especially in building their identity, confidence as well as instilling  a sense of pride  of their tradition, religion and heritage. It’s like a frame that encompasses different characters.
As a Muslim who lives most of the time in Canada, what is really important for me  is that our kids are able to read and understand the Holy Qur’an and project it in their life. This is very easy in an Arabic country, but is comparatively difficult while living in Western societies. For example, in Canada, Arabic language, Islamic education, and Qur’an are taught only once a week for four hours during the weekend. So parents have to take some extra efforts to fill the gap.
It is also important to be open to international languages that open the doors to the rest of the world. In our case, our daughter was three years when she first came to Canada  ( now she is seven) . We preferred to admit her to  a French school in Canada  because it is a difficult language  to pick up a later stage and we plan to move her to an English high school where she will be better prepared for University. She is learning Spanish as well and we expect it to give here more international opportunities in her professional carrier.
Even though my daughter speaks only Arabic at home with her small brother, she has learnt  some words in Amazig which is the mother tongue of our grand parent in Algeria. She knows exactly how and when to switch between the languages that she learned during her early age and has been able to maintain the character and personality of an Arab girl.

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News: In Cameroun, experts seek cultural renaissance for Africa

April 24, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on NGR Guardian News on 24 April 2009
By Bridget Chiedu-Onochie and Michael Orie

THE significance of African arts and culture in the socio-political and economic equation of the global world was the major thrust of the just concluded Summit of African Cultural Institutions and the African Diaspora (SACIADIA) held in Yaounde, Cameroun.

As a follow-up to a similar gathering held in 2007 in Lagos, Nigeria, which focused on developing proactive strategies in the management and promotion of the arts and cultures of the Negro-African people, the four-day summit was a joint effort of the Regional Centre for Research and Documentation on Oral Traditions and Development of African Language (CERDOTOLA), Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), the Pan African Strategy and Policy Research Group (PANAFSTRAG) as well as the Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa.

The organizers of the summit said the realisation that centuries of violence, slavery, colonization has continued to hold the continent down, in addition to failure by the West to situate African history and culture in a proper perspective motivated it.

According to them, time is now ripe for African cultural rebirth. And for the continent to develop, an Afro-centric and culture-built platform of interaction with the global community is desirable.

The summit drew participants from many African countries. Nigeria had a team of culture scholars including Prof. Dele Layiwola of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan; Mrs. Josephine Mokwunyei of the Theatre Art and Mass Communication Department, University of Benin; Dr. Eze Bassey Eze of the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Calabar; Okpara C. Vincent of Fine Art Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and Mohammad J. Kuna, Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto.

In his opening remarks, the Executive Secretary, Regional Centre for Research and Documentation on Oral Traditions and Development of African Languages (CERDOTOLA), Prof. Charles Binam Bikoi, canvassed the abrogation of laws made based on diversity of cultures. And the time for that, he stressed “is now.”

To him, African culture must be allowed to give impetus to modernity and other ideals.

He challenged African cultural institutions to continue to assist in areas of creativity, competition and awareness in African history and civilization.

While regretting the fact that some African countries deny themselves the advantage of such a forum by absenting themselves, he lamented that similar low turnout greeted the 2007 meeting in Lagos, a CBAAC’s initiative, which brought together major players in art and culture.

Bikoi informed that Cameroun’s version of the summit would have been hosted last year but it was postponed till 2009 to enable organisers extend the frontiers of their objectives, one of which was to take advantage of past meetings, forums and seminars on black civilization and leverage on them to re-appropriate the institutions as well as put them in perspective to consolidate potentials of African culture in the face of global challenges.

According to him, nothing is as vital as culture in overcoming the challenges of the time. “There is no shame in knowing where you come from or who you are. Whoever is subject to mockery would not be able to produce or find way to freedom. There is no inferior or superior race, no big or small people in the face of the earth,” he noted.

Mr. Benjamin Gnalega, who represented the African Union at the summit, urged Africans, both at home and in the Diaspora, to be part of the cultural renaissance by returning to their old cultural ways of living.

Recalling how the AU leaders in Algiers called for the sowing of seeds for African cultural identity based on the AU charter, he stressed that African culture constitute the people’s souls and their entire being and as such, should be jealously protected to avoid losing it.

“We urge all Africans to turn to African values right now so that we can practically know who we are, where we are coming from and where we are going. Africans have to preserve their traditions and values in a globalised world; else, we would lose all we have. No people can develop without adherence to their cultural identity.”

Gnalega also expressed concern over continuous seizure of African stolen historical and cultural items by the West and asked African leaders to steer up action towards retrieving them.

Benoit Sossou, who represented UNESCO, charged African Union member states to commit themselves to the working of the institutions in order to enhance the cultural value of Africans all over the world.

He also spoke on the need to promote indigenous languages for proper integration of African values in a globalised world. According to Benoit, “To promote African cultural diversity, all Africans must endeavour to promote their own indigenous languages; this will help to integrate African cultural values in a globalised world. People without language are frivolous and therefore lack security and nowhere near their aims and objective.”

Addressing participants, the representative of CBAAC, Lagos, Nigeria, Mrs Chuma Ibe, expressed deep feelings for the success of the summit, which she informed was initiated by CBAAC two years ago.

Describing the early beginning as a mustered seed, she expressed delight that the dream of projecting African cultural values through the programme was gradually being realized.

“I am overwhelmed with joy, this dream began like a joke but today, we have a bigger dream. Indeed, it is like a mustered seed and so, we can blow our trumpet that we have achieved our dreams of projecting African values.”

She reiterated the need for Africans to arrest the moral decadence prevalent in the society, especially among the youths. Her words: “It is bad enough but it is worse with the younger ones, I wonder what they will teach their children if the situation continues to degenerate at this rate.”

For her, Africans can still be modern without losing their African identity and values.

“Yes, this is what we can do now and go ahead to serve as an example to the rest of the world, it would be a glowing situation where African ladies will go back to the old norm of being chase before marriage or how do we move forward if we can’t address our moral degeneration? We need to return to our original way of life where values and manners are cherised,” she emphasized.

Speaking later, the Managing Director/Chief Executive, CBAAC, Prof. Tunde Babawale, emphasised the efficacy of re-branding Nigeria and indeed Africa, using culture as a tool.

Babawale, who joined the meeting on the second day could not hide his excitement over the manner Nigerians articulated their cultural dress sense and general attitude at the summit.

He said the intimidating presence of Nigeria ‘s cultural ambassadors have earned the country respect from other participants and visitors to the Hotel Mount Febe, venue of the event.

“Your works and attitude will speak for you, you don’t need any slogan. I feel there is no better way to re-brand Nigeria than through our cultural values, which tend to promote core African values,” adding, “some of the participants from French-speaking nations admitted that Nigerians still have lots of their cultural values intact while most of those of the French Speaking African countries have been badly affected through their policy of assimilation.”

While expressing regrets that most African languages are going into extinction because youths place emphasis on colonial languages, Babawale said the concern of CBAAC was to see how it could network to fashion out means of reviving engendered languages as well as promote cultural values in the continent.

Also speaking on the centrality of culture in continental development was the Executive Secretary, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Mr. J.B. Yusuf.

Yusuf said government policies must have their cultural ingredients without which the desired results might not be achieved.

On the impact of the summit on his institute, Yusuf said it would be difficult to promote indigenous languages in Nigeria, which is one of the cardinal objectives of NICO without identifying some of the challenges facing local languages in Nigeria particularly and the continent at large.

“It is our belief that the more languages you understand because of the nature of our diversity, the better for us. We may not get immediate result now but on the long run, it would be useful because language serves as a carrier and it is a vital tool for integration; language can also cause war and that is why we say that for proper integration, there is the need to understand ourselves through speaking the same language. We also listen to music, which conveys a lot of message. So, language is essential, it is the strong point of culture, it is used to express cultural values and that is why emphasis at the summit was put on the promotion of indigenous languages.”

The NICO boss said he was solidly behind the campaign to save African languages from going into extinction as well as returning to core cultural values of hard work, integrity, sincerity and respect for elders and instituted authority.

Some of the titles of papers presented at the programme included Information and Communication Technology: The Role of Computer Technology in the Service of African Arts and Culture by Okpara C.Vincent; ICT and Pedagogy: The Interactive Whiteboard Revolution by Merlin-Ferdinand; Globalised Economy and Language Industries by Alexis Belibi; African Culture and Information Technology: Practical for Learning Camerounian Languages by Emmanuel Tonye; as well as Status and Use of African Languages, Languages of Culture and Development Tool by Veronica Quillien.

Others were African Languages and Cultures and the Challenges of Integration and Globalisation by Julien Kilanga Musinde; Development and Promotion of Arts and Cultural Products by Luc Yatchokeu; The Place of African Arts in Artistic Dissemination by Jean-Pierre Guingane; African Language in the Construction of the Global Village: A Historical Analysis and the Limits of Languages in African Literature by Prof. Dele Layiwola.

Emmanuel-Moselly Makasso, who spoke on Epic Genre and Cultural Expression noted, “language does not forge cultural identity but implements it through its use in a particular way and in a particular context.”

According to him, the very concept of cultural identity is at the centre of a correlation between the individual and the outside world through time and space.

In his contribution, Jean-Pierre Ntamag agreed that African languages were, like all other languages in the world, vehicles for the transmission of values, beliefs, and customs.

He noted that while each of them expresses a conception of the present world, those of African aim at appreciating the value, position and sense of African languages in globalization. He therefore counseled Africans to view the development of these languages on scientific and technical levels to enable them provide Africa with a better destiny.

Okpara’s paper examined the role and relevance of computer technology in the service of African arts and culture. Here, he pointed how museums, cultural centres, government ministries, professional organisations and different arts and cultural groups could utilise computer technology as information and communication tool for packaging and projection of African arts and cultural heritage.

Okpara stressed that adopting such technological concepts such as slide presentations, web-hosting, image simulation and interactive internet conferences, among others, would help facilitate the advancement of African arts and culture on the competitive global stage.

Okpara decried the fear of unknown saying it has continually brought the traditional African in constant contact with his spiritual world. “The uncertainties of the forest, river, mountain, seas, oceans, and the changing weather made him to ensure that all natural forces operate harmoniously for the provision of his daily needs and safety. This implies his ability to condense time and space to possess an unusual amount of insight on these phenomena.”

He enumerated the impacts of the new tools to include the ability to transform existing traditional means of artistic and cultural expressions as well as developing new ones. They also have the potentials to record or document, store, duplicate into various original copies, transfer, retrieve or display artworks and cultural performances in places far away from the original theatre or studio where they are produced or performed.

He, therefore, advocated the effective use of ICT in dismantling those barriers that make meanings and significance of some African arts and culture difficult to understand and appreciate.

In appreciation of the support of the Minister/Head of Chancery, Nigerian High Commission in Cameroun, Ahmed Inusa, who participated in the summit from the opening to the closing, the Nigerian delegation led by Prof. Babawale paid him a courtesy visit.

Inusa while welcoming his guests called for stronger ties between Nigeria and Cameroun, especially in the areas of trade and culture. He also urged Nigerians to put the issue of Bakassi behind them, so that, both countries can fully enjoy the benefit of their corporation.

He emphasied that with over four million Nigerians residing in Cameroun, no reasonable government could have hesitated to hand over the portion of land to Cameroun for the sake of peace and harmony as the contrast would have implied protecting territory while endangering the lives of Nigerians.

He was however happy that the relationship between two countries was gradually returning to normal.

On the issue of culture, he commended CBAAC boss for its initiative and expressed regrets that the most cherished aspects of African culture are gradually being lost to foreign influences. “The value of everyone participating in governance, the value of hard work, the value of honesty and transparency are fast fading away.”

He, however, expressed confidence in the resolutions at the summit to put the continent on the path of cultural rebirth.

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The power of Afrikaans ads

April 17, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on ScreenAfrica.com on 17 April 2009

Toyota continues to acknowledge the value of Afrikaans-language advertising and the buying power of Afrikaans speakers through its ongoing sponsorship of Pendoring, an awards event devoted solely to Afrikaans ads.

Says Pieter Klerck, senior manager: planning and advertising of Toyota South Africa, “Afrikaans speakers are a unique group, with a unique character and remarkable interpersonal relationships, and this is reflected in their buying and consumption patterns of products and services. It is precisely this personal relationship, intimate knowledge of and empathy with this market segment that is invaluable to Toyota.

“Afrikaans speakers contribute significantly to Toyota South Africa’s success. They feel at home with a company that takes trouble to advertise in their mother tongue. This obviously is a sound reason to advertise in Afrikaans.”

Klerck believes it is important that Afrikaans is enthusiastically embraced and promoted by its entire language community through projects like Pendoring. “If we all do not join forces, chances are slim that the next generation will have the privilege of having a colourful and varied Afrikaans language. Pendoring not only acts as a conduit for excellent Afrikaans advertising, it also offers the opportunity to promote creativity and the continued revival of Afrikaans.”

According to Pieter Bruwer, chairman of the Pendoring working committee, Toyota’s ongoing support is of immense value. “An investment in Pendoring goes a long way: besides being an investment in the creation, promotion and crowning of remarkable Afrikaans advertising, it is also an investment in the future of the language and all its users.”

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Using language to strike the right chord (in advertising)

April 16, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on BizCommunity.com on 16 April 2009
By Refilwe Tsimatsima

When it comes to advertising, I have always been driven by the philosophy that we should, at all times, speak with respect to the people who will be shelling out money to buy the brands and services we tout.
And if your target is the South African masses, not only should you speak with respect, but your advertising should also play a role in promoting the values and aspirations of black people. It sounds obvious, and yet almost 15 years after the fall of the old regime, we’re still neglecting mother tongue communication, and perpetuating old stereotypes about black people.

As a first world industry firmly rooted within a mainly third world environment, we don’t always succeed in truly understanding the headspace of the lower and middle income consumers we target.

So how do we begin to do this? One way is to tell a story, and to tell it in the right language. I understand the fragmented nature of our languages, so which do you choose? But there are various types of SA language that are emerging or have emerged. There’s SA English, as you’ll hear on the SABC 3 ad breaks: “Be back now now”. There’s what I’ll call the modern vernacular, which uses English and mother tongue, such as in the Redds Phola communication. There’s the pure vernacular and finally, the ever popular tsotsi-taal. You get to choose which to use, depending on what age your target group is, and what their motivations are.

Telling a story is one of the most powerful means of communicating with this market. South Africa has a highly evolved ‘talk’ culture. Stories are our way of passing culture from one generation to another. They are also a way to pass on values. And our stories aren’t passive. Africans gesticulate and punctuate their storytelling with clicks, hand-slapping and body gestures. Narratives have great historical relevance to this market, not only in South Africa but on the continent in general.

A 30” ad can take the same form as a story, albeit in shorthand. Like music or literature, advertising should take people through the same highs and lows as an unforgettable story. The African narrative is not complex, and is therefore ideal for advertising purposes. It has clear vulnerable or hostile characters, and on most occasions, it ends with a lesson and the triumph of the human spirit. Brand communications should convey the idea that people can always be growing and evolving.

Despite narrative being so central to who we are, there are nonetheless few good ads out there which tell the South African story. Some brands however, have got it right. Think of the Halls “Free Your Throat” commercial, where a flying saucer tries to abduct a very large woman, but its tractor beam struggles to lift her weight. A woman watching puts a Halls in her mouth, and tells the aliens to “Voetsek”. Throughout the ad, everyday South African characters describe the event in their own colourful way.

There’s also the commercial for Knorr with Robertsons, which uses the idea of cooking rivalry that’s so prevalent in most black communities. The storyline is about a township lady who can’t help but chuckle at her take away food rivals who will do anything to get customers to buy from them. What they are not aware of is her secret – Knorr with Robertsons – which makes food taste real good, making her food a real crowd puller. And SABC 1 has the right idea in its positioning of being “Mzanzi’s official storyteller” – how that has been translated, some might say is open to discussion.

Use the right lingo
Getting the story right is one thing, we also need to tell it in the right language. There is such richness and substance in the mother tongue of African cultures, that it cannot possibly be substituted with a quick English translation. As advertisers however, we still hold fast to the conviction that people, especially those in the metropolitan and large urban areas, have shrugged off the languages of their childhoods in favour of English.

We’ve silently agreed that English is the language of choice for advertising, and have convinced ourselves that people hear and understand us, especially those who live outside the cities. But when did we all start speaking English? When did mother tongue become redundant, especially on television? (Radio is often chosen as the mother tongue medium, while TV, its glamorous sister, is the English vehicle.)

To not speak to your market in their mother tongue not only defeats the very purpose of the communications geared at them, but also has our mothers and grandmothers up in arms because our mother tongues are being relegated to the past. We need to make a change. A solution could be to have a dedicated department within agencies for linguists or translators, especially if the bulk of your business commands that you know and understand the black consumer. It’s a high call (which it shouldn’t be), especially when English is so convenient and to the point, but something needs to give.

Because language is important. Just think of the local dramas on SABC 1 and 2, like Generations, Mhuvango and Death of a Queen, which all have a huge mass market following. The success of these local dramas can be attributed to the storyline, content and relevance, but beyond that, the fact that they’re in the vernacular, or have vernacular translations, contributes greatly to their appeal.

As advertisers, we should understand that while parents want their children to progress and be successful, they don’t want this to be at the expense of culture. People like musician HHP are going all out to reinstate the importance of mother tongue. His Tswana hip-hop is a breath of fresh air, an example we advertisers should try to emulate in our respective fields.

Some might wonder whether mother tongue can be aspirational. I would say yes, it can be. Mother tongue in music for example, can be both ‘sexy’ and ‘asiprational’. I do not see why it cannot fit equally well therefore, with the premium cues or sexiness of your ad or brand, depending on the target market demographics and mindset. Already, we have a choice of which type of vernacular to use (street, tsotsi and so on). Everything else which makes your brand premium or sexy will come into play with complimentary creative expressions.

We must speak the language of our markets. This doesn’t mean writing a catchphrase in township lingo, or translating an English ad into the vernacular. Rather, it means we should capture the true essence of our market with original copy in the vernacular, with those elements that are distinctly African, which might just breathe new life into and elevate your brand.

In this way, consumers will be more disposed to actually listen to the flood of messages with which we constantly bombard them.

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News: Sydney School Leads Efforts to Revive Lost Aboriginal Language

April 11, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on VOA News.com on 11 April 2009
By Phil Mercer

A project at school in Sydney is leading efforts to revive an extinct Aboriginal language that was lost after European colonization. Chifley College is teaching Dharug to not only its indigenous students but others from Africa and the Pacific Islands as well as non-indigenous Australians.

The sounds of a lost language echo across a packed classroom in suburban Sydney as secondary school students help to revive an ancient part of Australia’s indigenous culture.

Dharug was one of the dominant Aboriginal dialects in the Sydney region when British settlers arrived in 1788 but became extinct under the weight of colonization.

Students at Chifley College’s Dunheved campus are taught by Richard Green, who is on a mission to rekindle an ancient language.

“We’ve already reclaimed it, that’s why there is so much interest. People are already speaking it. They speak our language from here, so when you walk in the school of a morning you hear ‘warami’- hello, good to see you,” he said.

“But we’ve got some young boys here that are absolutely brilliant. No matter what I say, they say it with correct pronunciation. You know, they sit in class the whole lesson. They are changing their attitudes,” he continued.

About a fifth of the students here are Aborigines, who remain Australia’s most disadvantaged group. The language classes are open to non-indigenous pupils, giving them a greater understanding of their country’s rich history and culture.

Steven Dargin says the language classes give him more insight into his Aboriginal community.

“It’s good especially for the blackfellas. You get to talk about your own culture and all that. Learn more stuff, speak it out of school,” he said.

Dharug is firmly embedded in the school’s curriculum and Joyce Berry, the deputy principal, says the aim is to create a vibrant, living language.

“We are reclaiming the language. And with Richard’s help and with the elders’ help, they are reclaiming and actually going through the process of writing down the language for probably the first time it’s ever been written down. If this can work, it is something a school in western Sydney has been able to achieve with the support, so if we can do that it is going to be such a wonderful thing, not just for the school but for the Dharug community,” she said.

Other indigenous dialects in Australia have been revived but the process may require what experts describe as “language engineering” – the borrowing of phrases and words or the coining of new vocabulary.

John Hobson, a lecturer in indigenous dialects at Sydney University, says they can be hard to learn.

“For the benefit of English speakers, I often compare Aboriginal languages to something somewhere between Japanese and Latin, which, you know, surprises them because the, kind of, gut approach is to go for something primitive and simplistic, which are they definitely not. They are very complex languages,” he said.

When European settlers arrived in Australia, there were about 270 different Aboriginal languages. Today, only about 60 are spoken on a daily basis. Of these, roughly half a dozen are considered to be strong and are being passed from adults to their children.

Community leaders say these ancient dialects go to the heart of indigenous pride and identity.

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African Languages – What is Spoken Where?

April 10, 2009 — lingoproz

Found on About.com on 10 April 2009
By Anouk Zijlma

There are literally thousands of indigenous languages spoken in Africa and many more dialects. Every African country you visit will no doubt be home to more than a dozen (if not several hundred) languages, even the smaller countries. But because of the sheer amount of linguistic diversity, every African country has an official language (or 11 in the case of South Africa) which acts as the lingua franca for (at least) a reasonably sized region.

Since almost every African country was at one time a colony, speaking English, Portuguese, or French will also help you communicate. Many Africans will speak Creole or pidgin versions of these European languages and they may not be so easy to understand when you first hear them.

Arabic is very handy in Northern Africa and Swahili will help you get by in much of East Africa.

Learning a few phrases in a local language will do much to endear you to the local population and help you get around. If you’re spending more than a few weeks in a country it is definitely worth buying a phrasebook.

What African Language is Spoken Where?

Below you’ll find a list of the major languages spoken in the more common African travel destinations. As a general rule, the more rural a place is, the less likely you are to get by with just English, Portuguese or French.

Angola
Official Language: Portuguese
Other languages spoken in Angola are mostly Bantu languages which include Umbundu, Nyemba and Chokwe.

Benin
Official Language: French
Other languages spoken in Benin include English (in tourist areas), Fon and Yoruba (south), Beriba and Dendi (north).

Botswana
Official Language: English
The principal language spoken in Botswana is Setswana (or Tswana) which is spoken by 90 of the population.

Cameroon
Official Languages: English and French
French is more widely spoken than English but a combination of the two is becoming more widespread — frananglais. Over 200 hundred languages are spoken in Cameroon from the Bantu and Sudanic groups.

Egypt
Official Language: Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic is widely understood in Egypt and is used by the media and Government. But most Egyptians on the streets of Cairo and Luxor speak a colloquial Arabic that is unique to Egypt. English is spoken by many people in the major tourist areas and some French as well.

Ethiopia
Official Language: Amharic
Other important languages in Ethiopia include Oromo, Somali and Tigrinya. English is taught in schools and many people will know a few words.

Gabon
Official Language: French
Other important languages in Gabon include Fang, Mbere, Punu and Sira.

The Gambia
Official Language: English
Other important lanugages in The Gambia include Wolof, Mandinka and Pulaar.

Ghana
Official Language: English
Other important languages (out of 79) spoken in Ghana include Twi, Ga, Ewe, Dagari and Dagbani.

Kenya
Official Languages: English and (Ki)Swahili
Other important languages include Luo, Kikuyu, Luyia and Kamba. Young urbanites often speak Sheng which is a based on Swahili but uses words from many other languages.

Libya
Official Language: Arabic
If you’re traveling to Libya you should pack an Arabic phrase book since little else is spoken, especially outside the main cities.

Madagascar
Official Language: Malagasy and French
Malagasy is spoken by everyone in Madagascar and many people also speak French especially in the business and government sectors.

Malawi
Official Language: English
Chichewa is probably spoken more widely by most of the population than English in Malawi, but you can get by without it for the most part. Yao and Tumbuka are commonly spoken around the lakeshore.

Mali
Official Language: French
Bambara is the most commonly spoken language in Mali, other languages include Tamashek, Songhai and Fulfulde.

Morocco
Official Language: Arabic
As in Egypt, Modern Standard Arabic is widely understood but Moroccans on the streets of Casablanca and Marrakech speak a colloquial Arabic called Darija that is unique to Morocco and influenced by the Berber languages also commonly spoken throughout the country. French is useful as many educated people will speak it and it may help you get from place to place. English is not commonly spoken or understood in Morocco.

Mozambique
Official Language: Portuguese
Other important languages (out of the 43 mostly Bantu languages) include Lomwe, Makhuwa, Ndau and Tsonga.

Namibia
Official Language: English
While the official language is English, Afrikaans is actually much more widely spoken by Namibians as a second language, even in rural areas. Other important languages in Namibia include Herero, Ovambo, German, Portuguese (in the north) and Nama.

Nigeria
Official Language: English
Other important languages in Nigeria include Hausa (widely spoken throughout northern Nigeria), Yoruba, Ibo, Edo, Idoma, Fulfulde and Efik. Many people, particularly in the south and urban areas, speak a creole or pidgin English similar to Krio in Sierra Leone and Pidgin in Cameroon.

Rwanda
Official Languages: French, English and Kinyarwanda
Rwandans nearly all speak Kinyarwanda as their mother tongue, but Englih and French is also widely understood throughout the country.

Senegal
Official Language: French
The most widely spoken language in Senegal is Wolof. Other important languages include Fula, Soninke, Mandinka, and Bambara.

South Africa
Official Languages: Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Venda, Swati, Sesotho, Sepedi, Tsonga and Tswana.
Yes, South Africa actually has 11 official languages. Most people speak their tribal mother tongue as well as some English and Afrikaans. Unofficial languages include San and Nama (Bushmen languages) and Northern Ndebele. Several creole or pidgin languages are also common including Fanagalo (used in the mines) and Tsotsi taal or Isicamtho (used in the townships).

Tanzania
Official Languages: (Ki)Swahili and English
Swahili is more widely spoken outside of the urban areas than English, so it’s useful to pick up a few phrases when traveling in Tanzania. Other major languages spoken in Tanzania include Sukuma, Gogo, Haya, Kwere, Makonde, Mambwe, and Nyamwezi.

Togo
Official Language: French
Other important languages (out of 39) in Togo include Kabye, and Mina. Some English is spoken in the tourist areas.

Tunisia
Official Language: Arabic
French is widely spoken and understood especially in the tourist areas. The Arabic spoken in the streets of Tunisia is similar to that spoken in Morocco, commonly known as Darija.

Uganda
Official Language: English
Most Ugandans speak English as well as an indigenous language, the most common ones are Luganda and (Ki)Swahili. Soga, Chiga and Runyankore are also important languages in Uganda, each have over a million native speakers.

Zambia
Official Language: English
English is widely spoken throughout Zambia, other important languages include Tonga, Bemba, Nyanja (similar to Chichewa) and Lozi.

Zimbabwe
Official Language: English
English is widely spoken throughout Zimbabwe but most Zimbabweans’ first language is either Shona or Ndebele.

Sources
Ethnologue.com
Wikipedia
Lonely Planet Guide Books

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