Stories about Languages from August, 2012
Languages: Translating Health Content Without Borders
A recently study showed that 63% of African translators believed greater access to translated information could have saved the life of a friend or family member. Translators Without Borders has been working to amplify essential health-related content into minority languages around the world. Rising Voices recently spoke with its co-founder Lori Thicke to learn about some of their recent projects.
Languages: A Video Library for Successor Pipil Generation
Only approximately 2.5-10% of El Salvador's population is of indigenous descent. The Pipil or Nahuat language is critically endangered with only about 200 speakers remaining. A language activist named Carlos Cortez is working to create a video library to help develop a new generation of young speakers to build a bridge with the older group of speakers so that they can become "the successor generation."
Languages: The First Digital Sounds of Mam
In Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, languages such as K'iche' and Mam continue to play a central role in rural daily life. The importance of maintaining these indigenous languages has been recognized by the Riecken Libraries, which has been implementing the RV grantee project Xela Civic Libraries. Members of the project have been involved in activities design to revitalize the Mam language including beginning to use audio recordings.
