Month: January 2018

When will Africa prioritize her Languages?

In 2004 Chissano while bidding farewell s the then African Union chairman, he used the Swahili language even though it is not his mother tongue. Swahili spoken by more than 100 million people on the African continent is a lingua franca created from Arabic and several other languages and popular in countries like Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Central African Republic, some parts of Uganda to mention a few. Chissano was then the president of Mozambique and wanted to show other African leaders how important Africa’s identity is in regard to languages.

Is it time for Africa to prioritize African languages?

This is an interesting question because at the look of things, in all major official gatherings that take place on the continent including the Au summits, it is the foreign languages used as means of communication. Although effective communication is very important for such events, focusing on using African languages as the main means of communication should be highly considered for the sake of the future generations.

It should be noted that the languages used in the African union include; Arabic, Portuguese, French and English which act as the official languages in Africa simultaneously.

Speaking of future generations, it is very important that they inherit the kind of patriotism that includes the richness of Africa’s indigenous languages. Yes, richness because Africa alone has over 1000 languages with certain countries boasting of more than 80 at ago.

Zimbabwe should pat itself on the back for having several of its indigenous languages among its long list official languages and these include;

Therefore, more countries should borrow a leaf from Zimbabwe because listing the indigenous languages as official languages is a step to popularizing these languages.

Should we do away with foreign languages?

So I’m I saying the foreign languages should be done away with? Not at all because they make communication easier by bringing together almost all ethnicities that exist while at the same time maintaining the global village notion. In other words, foreign languages are great and useful and a uniting factor of Africa to the outside world and should be further encouraged but not meant to be a replacement for the African languages.

It should be noted that the foreign languages are those used mostly for official purposes and as the main languages of instruction in African Education institutions and were introduced during the scramble and partition of Africa in the 1800s.

In fact, at all times professional translation services should be highly considered when dealing with important events with parties speaking different languages. For example, at events like the AU, interpreters should be used to interpret from African languages and vice versa so as to build the African language legacy.

By Angela Kyolaba

Student Exchange Programs and Languages

A group of five teenagers were recently flagged off by the German Embassy in Uganda to leave for Germany on a foreign student exchange program handpicked from schools that study the German language.

This is common in most parts of the world especially among high school University levels of Education where students from one country leave for another to experience the academic environments of their host countries where they also definitely get to learn about the cultures in that particular country.

Language barriers

Language is one means of communication and is vital when it comes to student exchange programs and it is not usually the case that the languages used in the host country are similar to those used and spoken by the students.

For example, in the example above of the Ugandan students leaving for Germany, it should be noted that the language of instruction in Ugandan schools is English and that German is merely a language studied as a lesson or course unit and even then English is used when teaching German. On the other hand, German is the language of instruction in schools in Germany where English is the language of instruction in just a few British International schools.

Disadvantage and how to go about it

The disadvantage is such instances is that at some point communication maybe limited as the foreign exchange students will only be able to understand topics only based on the knowledge they have in the foreign language. Although this can be overcome by the art of translation, interpreting, transcription and subtitling for more effective communication.

However the entire experience on the brighter side can be a major learning and adventurous journey given the fact that it is a new country with different people and cultures which can be both educative and fun.

Preparation

It would be better if student exchange programs are carried out with countries that have a language in common so as to benefit more out of the experience with effective communication. And in cases where the languages are different, professional translations should be considered to further ease communication. It is a global village we live in today and therefore very common to go to places or meet with people of different languages which shouldn’t be a problem with the proper translation means in place.

Serious prep talks in form of briefings should be given to these students intending to travel on what to expect so as not to experience cultural shocks of any kind. This could be about the dress code, mannerisms, forms of greeting so as not to find themselves in trouble. For example, in Japan it’s rude not to bow a little when greeting elders.

What is the Lingua Franca of the Sports World?

As the world is a global village, so is the Sports fraternity especially as players in various fields are transferred from one club to another from and to different countries if spotted by professional scouts.

Just like music, sports is a universal language that is well understood by people of different backgrounds, ages and countries but still to thrive in the new clubs these people are sent to, effective communication has to take place for proper training sessions and for healthy relationships between fellow players and coaches.

Sports has no Lingua franca

It should be noted that sports players sometimes come from countries with different languages from those of their host country especially Africans from West African countries like Togo, Nigeria, Ivory Coast relocating to the Arab world, Europe and the US.

This is usually seen after matches when players and coaches are interviewed and give their answers in a different language to that of the interviewer. This shows how important communication is and that different languages do not necessarily mean lack of communication.

It is said by certain people that English is the lingua franca of sports and this is true to a certain extent as the English language is used even when not fluently by many sports men from different countries to express themselves. However it should be noted that there are people from certain countries that can only express themselves a little or not all in English. English maybe an official language in plenty of countries, there are countries where it is only taught as a lesson in some classes and the official or lingua francas are Arabic, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin etc.

Translation services may save the day

This is where professional translation services come in to ease communication and make life easier for both the players, coaches, team mates and their fans and such services include;

Subtitles

Interpreters

Transcription

Translations

Immigration document translation

Examples of famous sports personnel that originate from African countries include;

Yaya Toure from Ivory Coast and the Midfielder for Manchester city with various victories.

There are several talented soccer stars for Cameroon and these include striker Samuel Eto’o and goal keeper Thomas N’kono.

From Ghana there is former Chelsea midfielder, Michael Essien etc.

Almost everyone around the world may know a word or two in the English language however for effective communication, professional translation services are vital in the Sports’ world.

Trump and the Shithole Countries; Why?

Following president Trump’s remarks of allegedly referring to African countries as shithole during an Oval office meeting concerning immigration and his desire to have less people from them but would rather have immigrants from countries like Norway, African based groups and governments have given statements condemning this act and insisting of the dignity of African countries. In fact some African governments have allegedly summoned US diplomats in their countries to get closure for example, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa with other countries expected to follow suit.

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Trump and the Shithole Countries; Why?

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Why Adopted Children should keep their first languages?

Child adoption comes with the question of what languages the child in question will be speaking especially if they are adopted from a country of place where the language or languages spoken are different from those used where the child is relocating.

The Ethiopian parliament passed a law banning adoption activities altogether in the East African country and is meant to be immediately effective with just the exception of those cases where the process was or is being finalized. It should be noted that since the year 2011, Ethiopia had more than 5000 adoptions carried out by the US alone. A famous example here is the actress Angelina Jolie who adopted an Ethiopian girl as a toddler. http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/World/Ethiopia-bans-foreign-adoptions/688340-4259330-so6f42z/index.html

We also saw Madonna, the legendary musician with her second adoption from Malawi making it 3 children form Malawi that she has so far adopted.

How adoption affects languages

The issue here is what languages or language to be taken up by this adopted child. It should be noted that most children that are taken up as babies rarely get to learn their original mother tongues as they take on right from infancy the languages of their adoptive parents.

There are cases however when the child being adopted already has picked up on their mother tongue before that are taken to live with their adoptive parents.

Adoption and being bilingual

Some communication experts refer to such children who have learnt their original mother tongue before they set off to learn that of their adoptive parents as bilingual. However, they might be two kinds of bilingual here;

Subtractive bilingual; where the adopted child picks on the new language of their adoptive parents and gradually forgets their own. This is caused by the desire for these children to fit in with their new environment and culture. It is said that most children like these forget almost everything about their original language within a certain period of time. This deprives the child of cultural diversity because through a language one gets to know the mannerisms, food and way of life of a certain culture. It can also prove beneficial in the future in terms of career options at vacancies where multilinguals are required for a particular language duo. This could be in the field of translation under translations, interpreting, transcription, subtitling in any field there is; education, medical, legal etc.

Additive bilingual; here is when the child is encouraged to keep their original first language and is therefore exposed to others who share this language with them. They therefore grow up being a part of two great cultures and languages.

 How Language Translation Aids Extradition Of Cross Border Criminals

Translation of languages aids in the interception of crime related activities not only in movies but fortunately in real life too. This happens when through international relations, data is shared across borders aimed at bringing a criminal to justice or stopping any other vice.

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