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Gift-giving is often a major part of Christmas celebrations, but many people around the world don’t even have the gift of God’s Word.Wycliff
Vacancies in this network: Translators, Revisers, Editors, etc.
These are the best free Grammarly alternatives for students looking to improve their writing style and English grammar. Are you looking for software other than Grammarly to help you with your grammar? Here are alternatives you can try, and they are free too! With Grammarly being one of the most popular tools students can use for checking grammar, every student needs it to identify spelling and grammar issues in their work. Although the free version is good, the premium version identifies more grammatical issues. As a student, having a few free alternatives can help you when your budget is low, and you need to hand in quality work. Here are a few Grammarly alternatives you should try today. Typely is an online proofreading and essay editor to ensure all your assignments are well-edited and ready for submission. This is a complete writing environment with thousands of checks to correct most errors in your text. It is precise, but it is up to you to accept the suggested recommendations. With a simple-to-use interface accessed through your browser, you can quickly check your papers without having to install any application. Typely is completely free and does not have a Pro version. It has a character limit set at a maximum of 50,000 with each submission. Additional features in Typely include spell checking, style checking, punctuation check, and reporting. Unfortunately, Typely does not have a grammar check and will not highlight various grammatical mistakes. It is still usable enough for some instant proofreading. Check your grammar in seconds with Slick Write. This powerful software makes it easy to identify grammar errors and stylistic mistakes that might affect your writing. With Slick Write, you can customize feedback to suit your writing style and improve your grades. This tool offers more than a grammar check with detailed reports to teach you better habits to be an effective writer. An additional feature is you get a statistical percentage of the errors in your text for grading. It checks passive voice use, vocabulary variety, readability, sentence length and, structural flow in your documents. You do not need to download or install any application to use Slick Write. This software is available for free and is a handy tool for students, writers, SEO professionals, and bloggers. Slick Write works as an extension on Firefox and Chrome. The application can also be used as a plugin on WordPress, LibreOffice, and OpenOffice. RELATED:The Best Grammar And Punctuation Sites Language Tool is an open source style and grammar checker to correct your errors and proofread your work. The interface is clean and easy for students to use. You can use the Language Tool directly in your browser, and it supports more than one language. It fully supports English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, and partially supports other languages too. With a single click, you can quickly correct any errors in your work. You can also turn off individual rules as you see fit. This tool also takes care of any redundancy in your work, typos, wrong tense, and dates. It features a customizable dictionary for you to add words that are not found in a conventional dictionary. The limit of 20,000 characters with each check isn't as low compared to other tools. Language Tool has add-on extensions for Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox. Download: Language Tool for Chrome (Free) The Hemingway Editor is an in-depth grammar tool to make your writing bold and clear. You can improve your style of writing with the free online version of the Hemingway Editor. The summary of findings offers data on readability, passive voice, complex language, and hard-to-read sentences. You can switch between the writing mode and editing mode to complete your work within one tool. With different colored highlights, you can easily identify errors in passive voice usage, complex sentences, and readability of the content. An online version of this software is an affordable option for students and writers. Only the desktop version of the Hemingway app has an import/export feature. This means you will have to copy and paste your work while using the free online version. The app's paid version is available for a one-time payment with access to free upgrades when available. READ MORE: Grammar Apps That'll Help You Improve Your English Check your grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary with the Virtual Writing Tutor software. This online proofreader will help you count words, correct grammar errors, check plagiarism, and improve your word choice. This software trains students and learners to identify errors and improve their writing style. It is available on Windows, Linux, and Mac for free. The Virtual Writing Tutor is ideal for students because they can score their essays and get valuable feedback on their assignments. The field-related vocabulary checker tool allows people unfamiliar with certain fields to learn the meaning of some words. Other beneficial features include the paraphrase checker to avoid any plagiarism in your work. The target structure also scores and helps you improve other documents like cover letters and opinion essays. It is available for desktop and iOS devices but not on Android yet. Get the Most Out of These Free Grammarly Alternatives These Grammarly alternatives are excellent for students looking to improve their writing style and English grammar. Although these apps are not 100% accurate, they will quickly identify most errors in your work. They will make sure your work is precise and free of any writing mistakes. All these tools listed above have free versions available for students to help improve their writing. You will be able to check anything from punctuation, spelling, and tenses to complex sentences and the use of jargon in your text. The more you use these tools, the better you will get at turning out clean documents and academic work.
"....As we ponder about this, last Sunday was the Unesco’s International Mother Language Day 2021, with the theme “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society.” According to the Unesco, world over linguistic diversity is on the receiving end and more and more languages disappear. In Tanzania, we adopted Kiswahili as a national language, which since those days of our father of the nation, Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, it has played a great role in making our nation very united. We really thank Mwalimu Nyerere for that as through Kiswahili we have not spelt out tribalism in Tanzania, as compared to our East African neighbours, where negative tribalism is almost a way of life. Many Tanzanians born in the 1980s only know Kiswahili as their mother tongue. Over 90 per cent of Tanzanians speak the language. For national identity and cohesion, this is great. Nevertheless, our original languages were full of knowledge and some components that need to be preserved for the future generations. For example, Master J has a great point about music beats from our mother tongue. If we fail to preserve the same, many will be forgotten forever. Language is knowledge, and a tool of power. Each indigenous people had their unique knowledge, and as their language disappears, so do part of that knowledge. We need to have a conversation about documenting the languages. Reference publication Ethnologue: Languages of the World indicates that Tanzania has 126 spoken languages, with Kiswahili and English being institutional languages. It notes that about 41 languages are endangered while 8 are dying. Some three languages have become extinct. While I am unable to verify the above information independently, what I can say for sure is that in each of the language spoken by Tanzanians, it has passed on knowledge. For instance, in music, art, medicine (herbs) etc. The big question is, as a country, how do we preserve our indigenous/ traditional /local knowledge? Perhaps, one of the ways of doing that we could go for Master J’s option, what if we document the sounds (music) of all our tribes, so that our today and future musicians can be able to use those beats? In the world of ecology, the role of indigenous knowledge in natural resources management include the use of cumulative knowledge passed on from one generation to the other. The traditional people, in their own ways and language, know which plant, root or herb can be used to heal a particular disease. They knew the best food for expectant mothers, for the old and the young! In essence, there is vast positive knowledge in any language, and when that language dies, most of that knowledge is lost. Hence there is a need to document such knowledge for generations to come!"
In 2012, after a run of successful story collections and novels, including 1999’s Pulitzer-winning Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri embarked on a daring experiment. Having studied Italian off and on since graduate school, she decided to move with her husband and children to Rome, where she would immerse herself in the language and, eventually, write a book in it. Many people in Lahiri’s life, understandably, advised against this plan. By jettisoning English, she was effectively laying down the tool of her trade, exchanging it for one that would be far more cumbersome. It was as if a tennis star had opted to compete with a ping-pong paddle. At first, the going was indeed tough. As Lahiri recalled in her 2016 memoir In Other Words (written in Italian and translated into English by Ann Goldstein), “In spite of my great enthusiasm for living in Rome, everything seems impossible, indecipherable, impenetrable.” Writing in Italian, she says in the book, made her feel “like a child, like a semiliterate.” Over time, though, Lahiri made enough progress to speak, think, and compose in her adopted tongue. Besotted by the country and language, she ended up staying in Rome for three years. By the time she returned to the U.S. in 2015, she’d started a novel in Italian. That book was published in Italy in 2018 as Dove mi trovo; Lahiri’s English translation of the work, titled Whereabouts, is being released by Knopf in May. “When we first moved, I thought, ‘I’d like to live in Rome for a year,’ ” Lahiri says via Zoom from her home in Princeton, N.J. “Instead, it’s had this completely profound, ongoing influence on my personal life, on my family life—on life.” Lahiri’s experiment has also had an influence on her writing. Fans of her fiction will be glad for Whereabouts, her first novel in eight years, but they may be surprised by the book’s subject matter and style. Traditionally, Lahiri’s fiction has centered on the experience of Indian immigrants in the U.S. and their descendants. Her work has also tended to sport all the accoutrements of realist fiction: named characters, defined settings, glimpses of a larger, outside world. Whereabouts, by contrast, is about an Italian woman—a person itching to leave her birthplace, rather than one struggling to adjust to an adopted home—and, at just over 150 pages, is unusually brief. The book, divided into 46 chapters, is deeply inward looking, and it contains little in the way of personifying or geographic detail. The reader is not given the narrator’s name, for example, and, were it not for a few telling words, such as piazza, one might not know it is set in Italy. Near the end of the book, when the narrator, a middle-aged writer and professor, tells her mother she’s leaving the country for a fellowship, she describes her destination simply as somewhere “on the other side of the border.” Lahiri, who directs the creative writing program at Princeton University, has “always been interested in space and place,” she says. That interest has roots in her biography. She was born in London to Indian immigrants and raised in Rhode Island, where she felt the dissonance between her Bengali household and her American environs acutely—a dissonance she would go on to explore in her work. “Are we in India or are we in New England? That’s always been a preoccupation of mine,” Lahiri says. In Whereabouts, though, she “wanted to look at place differently” and to “render things in a more abstract way.” That decision may have been informed by the circumstances of the book’s composition. After she returned to the U.S. from Italy, Lahiri embarked on a period of dizzying peregrination. For a while, she commuted regularly from Brooklyn to Princeton, where she’d started teaching. On top of that, she flew back to Rome every six to eight weeks, as if carrying on a long-distance relationship with the city. It was there that she’d work on the jottings that, over time, became Whereabouts. “I think one of the reasons I didn’t want to specify the place was that I, in the writing of this book, was in no specific place,” Lahiri says. For all its geographic abstraction, Whereabouts does emphasize place on a more local level. The chapters are headed by prepositional phrases (“At the Museum,” “On the Balcony”) that provide concrete backdrops for the narrator’s meandering reflections—about her foredoomed attraction to a married friend, about the trauma of her father’s early death. Lahiri started out using these titles intuitively. But she observes that, for a language learner, prepositions—those words describing our proximity, our positionality, our place—can pose a special challenge, and thus attain a special meaning. “Unless you’re born with the language, they can escape you,” she says. After years of studying and writing in Italian, does Lahiri now feel like a native speaker? In In Other Words, she writes, “I can write in Italian, but I can’t become an Italian writer.” Nevertheless, she feels that, at this stage, her “center of gravity” has moved to someplace between English and Italian. For example, when she was first immersing herself in the language, Lahiri found it “impossible” to write in Italian while in the U.S. But she recently completed another book in Italian while in Princeton, having been grounded stateside by the pandemic. “That feels like a real shift for me,” she says. And, after Whereabouts was published in Italy, she felt she’d come far enough in her linguistic journey to attempt to translate it herself. “Something told me I should try.” In attempting this feat, Lahiri joins a rarefied group of writers—including Samuel Beckett, Vladimir Nabokov, and Argentine writer J. Rodolfo Wilcock—who have learned new languages, composed texts in those languages, and then translated them into their principal tongues. Initially, Lahiri had apprehensions about the task. “I was worried I couldn’t hear the book again in English,” she says. But she found it “pleasantly challenging.” She likens the experience to suiting up for a walk in the snow only to find that the weather is warmer than you’d expected. “I put on all of my layers and braced myself and walked out the door and then—‘Oh, it’s actually a nice day.’ ” Still, Lahiri values the difficult, early days of her apprenticeship. If she feels remade as a writer, it’s because learning Italian has forced her to part with some of her certainty and some her authority. “I’m always trying to get back to that place where I really wasn’t sure of anything,” she says. “To make art, you’ve got to be in a very precarious place all the time. You really have to realize that it’s a dangerous thing you’re doing, and the stakes are very high.” Lahiri doesn’t know when she’ll able to return to Italy. After years of traveling there so frequently, she’s found the pandemic “devastating.” She’s compared learning Italian to falling in love, and even over Zoom her grief at not being to reunite with the country and its language is palpable. When asked, “Why Italy?” she fumbles for words. Who can explain why they fall in love with a certain person? “It’s very mysterious,” Lahiri says. “All you know is that you have to be with that person. There’s something about them that makes you makes feel safe, and loved, and alive.” Daniel Lefferts is a writer living in New York City. A version of this article appeared in the 03/01/2021 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: Found in Translation
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS A writer who was chosen to translate American poet Amanda Gorman's work into Dutch has handed back the assignment following criticism that a white author was selected to translate the words of a Black woman who is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, who last year became the youngest writer to win the International Booker Prize with her novel “The Discomfort of Evening," announced the decision in a Twitter post Friday. A Dutch translation of “The Hill We Climb,” the poem Gorman recited to wide acclaim at the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, was scheduled to be released at the end of March by publisher Meulenhoff. “I am shocked by the uproar around my involvement in the dissemination of Amanda Gorman's message, and I understand people who feel hurt by the choice of Meulenhoff to ask me,” said Rijneveld, who writes poetry as well as novels. Meulenhoff general director Maaike le Noble said in a statement that the publisher wants to learn from the experience. Get unlimited digital access Subscribe now for only $1. CLAIM OFFER “We are going to look for a team to cooperate with to translate Amanda's words and message of hope and inspiration as well as possible and in her spirit,” Le Noble said. The publisher said earlier this week that Rijneveld was the translator it had dreamed of and said that "Amanda Gorman herself was also immediately enthusiastic about the choice for the young poet.” One of the critics of the choice of Rijneveld was Janice Deul, an activist and journalist who wrote an opinion piece in the Netherlands' national daily newspaper de Volkskrant about the topic. “Not to take anything away from Rijneveld’s qualities, but why not chose a writer who is -- just like Gorman -- spoken word artist, young, female and unapologetically Black.” On Friday, Deul tweeted: “Thanks for this decision” and tagged Rijneveld and Meulenhoff.
Palabres avec Louis Camara, écrivain et «passeur de cultures» Entretien réalisé par Alassane Seck GUEYE | Publication 26/02/2021 Collaborateur du Témoin à travers ses œuvres qu’il met à la disposition de nos lecteurs, Louis Camara reste un auteur engagé en plus d’avoir le souci de partager son savoir. Par la magie de l’Internet avec ses plateformes, Le Témoin s’est entretenu avec l’auteur saint-louisien sur son œuvre et sa pratique littéraire. Entretien. Louis Camara, douze ans après sa publication par les EENAS vous avez décidé de parler de votre œuvre « La forêt aux mille démons ». Pourquoi avoir attendu si longtemps? En fait, je me suis rendu compte que depuis sa parution en 2009 grâce au Fonds d’aide à l’édition, « La forêt aux mille démons » reste très peu connu du public des lecteurs. Il est vrai qu’il n’est pas bien diffusé et qu’il est même un peu difficile de le trouver en librairie. C’est donc pour corriger cette situation défavorable que j’ai pensé à mieux le faire connaître par le canal de la presse et d’autres médias étant donné que les rencontres littéraires ne son plus possibles en raison de l’épidémie de la COVID. Vous savez, parfois en l’absence de dynamisme ou de réactivité de leurs éditeurs, les auteurs sont obligés de monter eux-mêmes aux créneaux pour faire connaître leurs ouvrages. Ce n’est pas très normal mais c’est généralement comme cela que ça se passe dans notre pays. A moins que vous ne soyez soutenus par des lobbies littéraires qui ont pignon sur rue et peuvent assurer la promotion de vos livres. Ce qui n’est bien sûr pas le cas de tous les écrivains. Est-ce que comme la plupart de vos œuvres celle-ci s’inspire également de la culture yorouba ? Oui, en effet, comme « Le choix de l’Ori » qui m’a valu de remporter le Grand prix du Président de la République pour les Lettres, « Histoire d’Iyewa » et « Le tambour d’Orunmila » qui sont parus avant elle, « La forêt aux mille démons est une œuvre qui s’enracine dans la culture yorouba. Mais à la différence des premières, ce n’est pas un conte, mais plutôt un roman épique, d’autre part, il ne tire pas sa source directement de la mythologie. Mais où avez-vous été chercher ce titre « La forêt aux mille démons » et pourquoi cette fixation sur le monde yorouba alors que vous êtes Sénégalais et même Saint-louisien bon teint ? Pour commencer par la deuxième partie de votre question je voudrais vous dire qu’il ne s’agit pas d’une « fixation », mais plutôt d’un intérêt motivé pour une culture où j’ai trouvé énormément de choses importantes pour moi, notamment l’inspiration littéraire. Ceci dit, je suis effectivement un Sénégalais et même, comme vous dites, un « Saint-Louisien bon teint ». Donc pas de souci à ce niveau. Seulement j’ajouterais que je suis aussi et sans doute avant tout un Africain et que la culture yorouba du Nigeria que j’ai ajouté à ma culture native sénégalaise, saint-louisienne me convient parfaitement et s’harmonise bien avec les autres composantes de mon identité plurielle. Voilà. Je pense que le cosmopolitisme est quelque chose de naturel, de consubstantiel à tout être humain, qu’il le veuille ou non, qu’il en soit conscient ou pas. C’est pourquoi le racisme, le chauvinisme le nationalisme exacerbé sont de graves et dangereuses aberrations. Pour en revenir à la première partie de votre question, sachez que je n’ai pas inventé le titre « La forêt aux mille démons » mais que c’est plutôt la traduction française de « The forest of a thousand daemons » de Wole Soyinka qui l’a lui-même traduit du yorouba. C’est bien compliqué tout cela… (Rires) Non, c’est très simple en réalité. Wole Soyinka, prix Nobel de littérature qui est yoruba de naissance, a traduit en 1968 le roman de son compatriote l’écrivain D.O Fagunwa publié en 1935 sous le titre « Ogboju Ode ninu Igbo Olodumare ». Cela a donné « The forest of a thousand daemons » que j’ai à mon tour traduit en français et publié en 2009. Est-ce que c’est plus clair maintenant ? C’est limpide et l’on comprend très bien d’où ça vient. Mais vous n’êtes donc pas seulement écrivain mais aussi traducteur ? (Sourire) Disons plutôt traducteur intermittent ou occasionnel car la traduction est un métier, pratiqué par des professionnels qui l’ont appris à l’université ou sur le tas pour certains. Je ne voudrais pas paraître prétentieux en m’accordant le statut de traducteur. « La forêt aux mille démons » est la seule traduction que j’ai réalisée pour des raisons et en des circonstances bien précises. Quelles sont ces raisons et ces circonstances ? Eh bien, la raison principale c’est que, en tant qu’écrivain et « passeur de cultures » comme on dit, j’ai eu le désir de faire connaître l’œuvre de D.O Fagunwa aux lecteurs Sénégalais et francophones en général tout comme Soyinka a voulu la faire partager en la traduisant en anglais. La traduction c’est véritablement la langue universelle et les traducteurs jouent un rôle éminemment positif dans le dialogue et l’intercompréhension entre les cultures du monde. Les écrivains sont eux-mêmes parfois de vrais virtuoses de la traduction, comme Baudelaire qui était le meilleur traducteur de son confrère Edgar Allan Poe) certains s’auto-traduisent et c’est le cas de Vassilis Alexakis (mort le mois passé) qui traduisait systématiquement ses propres romans du grec au français et vice- versa. Mon ami Boubacar Boris Diop a luimême traduit en français son roman « Doomi Golo » et traduit en wolof une pièce de théâtre d’Aimé Césaire. Tout ça pour vous dire que la traduction est aussi nécessaire à la littérature que l’air aux oiseaux du ciel. La traduction, surtout littéraire, ne doit pas être chose facile, surtout concernant un écrivain comme Wole Soyinka réputé être difficile voire hermétique. Comment vous y êtes vous pris ? Écoutez, je crois que c’est une mauvaise réputation qui est faite à Soyinka, il n’est ni plus « difficile » ni plus « hermétique » qu’un autre. Pour traduire sa traduction du roman de Fagunwa, je n’étais armé que de mon dictionnaire bilingue Anglai-Français, de mon enthousiasme et de ma volonté. Et apparemment ça a marché. La seule chose qu’il me reste maintenant à apprécier, c’est du côté de la réception, que ce soit des lecteurs simples dont j’attends un jugement de valeur purement « littéraire » ou des spécialistes de la traduction. C’est aussi l’une des raisons pour lesquelles je me suis fixé comme objectif de relancer ce bouquin. Pouvez nous nous parler de cet écrivain, D.O Fagunwa et de son œuvre littéraire qui semble t-il n’est pas bien connue au Sénégal ou peut-être même dans l’espace francophone? Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa est né en 1906 au Nigeria de l’ouest, le « Yorubaland ». Bien que maitrisant l’anglais (il a été enseignant puis inspecteur de l’enseignement secondaire) il décide d’écrire dans sa langue maternelle, le yorouba, et publie en 1935 sa première œuvre de fiction « Ogboju Ode ninu igbo irunmale’ qui sera suivie de six autres romans. Il est mort en 1963. Fagunwa est beaucoup moins connu que son compatriote (plus jeune que lui puisqu’il est né en 1920) Amos Tutuola qui, lui, écrivait en anglais et qui est l’auteur du fameux « L’ivrogne dans la brousse » traduit en français par l’écrivain Raymond Queneau. Fagunwa, très populaire dans son pays, est considéré comme le précurseur de la littérature en langue yorouba et l’un des tout premiers dans une langue africaine. « La forêt aux mille démons » est une sorte de roman initiatique dont l’action se déroule dans l’une des mystérieuses grandes forêts du pays yorouba. Le héros de l’histoire, le chasseur Akara-Ogun, va y connaitre une série d’aventures extraordinaires qui vont le conduire, lui et ses compagnons au « Mont Langbodo » où ils vont acquérir la sagesse et la connaissance. C’est une très belle épopée qui mérite d’être connue du lectorat sénégalais et francophone au même titre que « L’épopée de Soundjata Kéita » ou « La légende Mpfoumou ma mazounou » et autres récits du même genre. Par ailleurs je suis en train de rédiger une monographie de D.O Fagunwa que j’espère terminer d’ici 2024 si Dieu me prête vie et santé. Louis Camara on voit bien que vous n’êtes pas à court d’idées et de projets ! Comptez-vous continuer à traduire les œuvres de Fagunwa ? Franchement pour ce qui est de la traduction, je pense que c’est la première et que ce sera la dernière car comme je vous l’ai dit, je ne suis pas un professionnel et seule la passion m’a poussé à réaliser celle-ci. Je souhaite que de nos universités, où il y a maintenant des modules et des laboratoires de traduction, sortent des traducteurs bien formés et professionnels et parmi lesquels il y aura des traducteurs littéraires. Je trouve un peu dommage que les écrivains africains, en n’importe quelle langue, soient le plus souvent traduits par des européens. Certes je ne considère pas cela comme un mal car la littérature ne connaît pas les frontières, mais je pense qu’il serait bon également que les auteurs africains soient traduits par des africains comme eux, avec lesquels ils partagent les mêmes problématiques existentielles, les mêmes environnements sociaux, politiques et culturels. Je trouve cela tout à fait logique. Des idées, des projets, oui j’en ai. Maintenant tout ce que je souhaite c’est d’avoir le temps, la santé et les moyens de les mener à bien. C’est tout le mal que nous vous souhaitons… Merci à vous et au Témoin. C’est un journal qui, en dehors de l’actualité sociale et politique, a su également se mettre au service des arts et de la littérature avec d’excellentes rubriques comme « Le magazine du week-end », « Le coin de lettres », « Palabres » qui sont toutes des tribunes ouvertes à tous les écrivains et artistes qui peuvent y publier des textes, partager leurs idées, donner des interviews. Sur ce plan, vous avez réussi votre pari et je vous dis bravo et bonne continuation. Que vos pages continuent d’être un espace d’expression pour les belles plumes et les talents artistiques de ce pays. J’invite les jeunes pousses déjà très prometteuses, si je me fie à certains textes lus ici et là et qui sont loin d’être médiocres, à prendre part à ces banquets de l’esprit aux cotés de leurs aînés, des « doyens » que nous sommes aujourd’hui devenus. Et puisque nous ne sommes encore qu’aux débuts de cette nouvelle année 2021, je souhaite qu’elle soit une année de paix, de santé, de prospérité pour tous et, en plus, de créativité pour les écrivains et les artistes. Puisse le Tout-Puissant écarter de nos horizons cette terrible pandémie qui ravage le monde entier et faire qu’elle ne soit bientôt plus qu’un mauvais souvenir. À propos de pandémie il semblerait que vous ayez produit quelque chose ? En effet, j’ai produit une petite brochure de trois poèmes intitulée « Coronavirus, le Triptyque ». C’est ma manière à moi de participer à la sensibilisation et au combat contre ce fléau. L’opuscule n’est pas à vendre, mais j’aurais aimé avoir le soutien des autorités, des secteurs de la santé et de la culture, qui sont peut-être, les plus concernés, pour pouvoir en faire une large diffusion. Nouvelliste, romancier, vous êtes également un poète ? Il m’arrive, c’est le cas de le dire, de « taquiner » la muse, ou peut-être de la chatouiller (rire) mais je n’ai pas la prétention d’être un « grand poète ». Je laisse cela à d’autres. Moi j’aime simplement jouer avec les mots et c’est pourquoi j’aime encore, j’aimerai toujours, la poésie. La poésie est certes un enjeu, mais elle est aussi un jeu avec les mots et les mots sont des étoiles dans le ciel de nos espérances…
The public often thinks of the United States as a monolingual country. However, it has a degree of multilingualism few other countries even come close to experiencing. According to CSA Research’s analysis of U.S. Census data, four non-English languages – Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog and Vietnamese – each have populations of over one million who either speak only those languages or prefer to use them over English. In other words, there is a vast audience for multilingual commerce right here in the U.S. for merchants to target, and not addressing major groups of foreign language speakers is a huge missed opportunity. Multilingual Melting Pot An additional 32 languages have at least 100,000 speakers in this category, and about 46 million individuals (about 14% of the U.S. population) either don’t speak English or prefer another language. Their net earnings account for about US$3 trillion (14%) of total GDP in the United States, a number that increases to US$4.6 trillion (21% of GDP) if we include those who are proficient in English but speak another language at home. The most significant of these languages is Spanish. If U.S. Spanish is counted on its own, it would be the eleventh most economically significant language in the world, just behind Italian, but ahead of Korean and Dutch, the sort of opportunity that many companies jump at when they see it in another country. After Spanish, Chinese is the next most important non-English language in the U.S. At $156 billion in value (compared to Spanish at $1.9 trillion), it may seem small, but includes a disproportionate number of wealthy consumers who are willing to spend on luxury brands. In addition, as can be seen in the graphic above, 13 additional languages are as important as some of the smaller official European Union languages, such as Latvian and Bulgarian, that appear frequently on the sites of multinationals. Unfortunately for these individuals, very few businesses address their requirements by pursuing multilingual commerce, instead relying on English for their domestic sales and marketing, even if they offer other languages for customers elsewhere. CSA Research’s recent examination of over 2,800 major brand websites uncovered just a handful of sites that specifically target U.S. Spanish speakers and just one site that addressed domestic Chinese speakers. A Willing Audience, On the Hunt This lack of content leads to a situation where U.S.-based customers may have to consult domestic enterprises’ foreign sites to find the information they need but the information on them may be specific to other markets, leading to confusion. For example, Spanish-speakers in New Jersey who want to buy cars may not find anything from the manufacturer’s U.S. site but will read the Mexican site, which may mention models, special deals, or other details that do not match what is available in Trenton or Hoboken. So why do so few businesses target these language communities and multilingual commerce opportunities? Primarily because most are largely unaware of them as a market, and their geographic spread makes it difficult to target them with local ad buys and other traditional marketing methods. Although the second factor is a legitimate challenge for stores, it does not affect ecommerce marketers not bound by physical location. Adding U.S. Spanish, and possibly Chinese, Tagalog or Vietnamese, should take priority over some other markets, particularly because the competition for these audiences is lower. In addition, regional enterprises, particularly those in the Southwest, Northeast and Florida, can take advantage of regional concentrations of non-English-speakers. But a word to the wise: You cannot just take your website for Mexico, Spain, China or any other country and expect it to serve as your U.S. multilingual site. Although sophisticated companies manage to decouple location and language, the reality is that most enterprises build sites for particular markets. It is challenging to build compelling marketing for U.S. communities because their language and culture is often significantly different from that of those in other countries who speak the same language. These audiences are also more likely to tolerate – or even expect – some English words and phrases that would baffle customers in other countries. Not Just Translation, Attention to Detail Getting non-English marketing right requires you to build sites that reflect the needs of these communities. As you address them, carry out the same demographic research, persona-building and other activities as you would for other target groups in the U.S. Remember that these communities are not monoliths: Cuban-Americans in Florida will have very different characteristics than Spanish speakers in Los Angeles or New York. As a result, building an effective non-English domestic marketing presence requires attention to detail and compromise between competing varieties of languages to find the most widely accepted options. You may ask if it will really matter given the presence of free machine translation or the chance that prospects may ask friends for help. However, CSA Research has demonstrated, through a large-scale study of the buying behavior of more than 8,700 consumers in 29 target locales, including U.S. Spanish speakers, that consumers overwhelmingly prefer to buy in their own language, even when they know English very well. When given the choice, about 75% will choose the brand that is localized for them. This means that if you do not provide content in their idioms, you are leaving almost 10% of U.S. wealth on the table that you could access with savvy multilingual marketing. An Opportunistic Moment Note that the dramatic acceleration in ecommerce as a result of the COVID pandemic has made these individuals more accessible than ever and also increased the importance of digital marketing for them. No longer can you rely on customers coming into a store to examine something in person where you can have multilingual staff help them. Adding additional languages to all of your sales channels can encourage brand loyalty, boost sales, and increase awareness of your company, all for a comparatively small expense that leverages existing distribution networks and infrastructure. All in all, non-English markets and multilingual commerce present an opportunity for merchants to set themselves apart in a field with scant competition. Arle Lommel is a Senior Analyst with CSA Research
In today’s competitive job market, many employers are looking for people who speak multiple languages. Growing globalization means that the demand for people who can communicate across borders is greater than ever. Learning another language can greatly expand your professional horizons – not only increasing your chances of multilingual vacancies, but also opening up a world of travel opportunities and dramatically improving your skills. Translator / Interpreter Let’s start with the obvious – countless organizations need translators and interpreters for a variety of reasons. With more and more businesses expanding around the world, it is unlikely that there will be a shortage of jobs in this arena anytime soon. This service is constantly needed in places like hospitals, courts, universities and immigration offices, which means that there are many different places to work for people who can communicate on behalf of others. Moreover, the number of interpreters and translators is projected to grow by 17 percent over the next ten years – much faster than the average for all professions. Customer Service Representative As many companies open call centers around the world, multilingual customer service has become highly valued – sales reps positions are the most sought after by bilingual employees at monster.com. Solving problems over the phone can be difficult at the best of times, which is why employers are looking for people who can overcome the language barrier and help them expand their client base and in this matter several multilingual jobs are available in the world wide range. Hospitality manager Hotels, resorts and tourist attractions need bilingual speakers to communicate with visitors from all over the world – for example, clerks, concierges and hotel managers. The three industries that are almost entirely dependent on tourism (accommodation, travel agencies / tour operators, air transport) employ 3.3 million people in the EU, so bilinguals have an excellent chance of finding good jobs in this emerging sector. HR specialist Bilingual HR professionals provide companies with many more options when hiring. A 2017 study by McKinsey & Company found that ethnic diversity in the workplace is strongly correlated with profitability. Multilingual speakers are invaluable in this area as they can recruit candidates from other countries and cultures – an attractive prospect for globally expanding companies. Teacher Multi-lingual teachers are essential in multicultural areas. This is a long career, especially as many schools are now investing in improving language programs for young children. What’s more, bilingual teachers can pass on their love of language to a new generation. Writer / Journalist Bilingual speakers looking to pursue careers in the media will find a significant advantage. For journalists, knowledge of another language helps with research, interviewing and even writing entire articles for non-English language media. This skill is also required for advertising copywriters and writers who can translate works of fiction, making them available to a wider audience. Healthcare professional Hospitals and clinics are lively places that receive a wide variety of patients every day. Communicating information in an emergency can be stressful, especially for people whose first language is not English, so bilingual doctors, nurses, paramedics and emergency telecoms are in great demand. Being able to help in this way saves time and can save lives Social worker Social workers are a vital part of modern society. It is a challenging but rewarding career that requires a lot of attention to culture. The ability to connect with people and allow them to express their thoughts about potentially difficult and emotional issues in their own language is very important and valuable in this career. Marketing Manager For companies trying to sell their products around the world, international marketing campaigns are key. Buying power is growing and companies need people who are fluent in the language of their target consumers in order to successfully convey brand messages. Information Technology Consultant There is much more human interaction in this profession than you might think. As IT trends move so quickly, people who specialize in niche areas such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing often have to travel to share their ideas with other companies and affiliates located in other countries. Bilingual speakers with such knowledge are extremely in demand in the ever-changing field of technology and many multilingual vacancies are available now in the whole world. These days, both public and private employers understand that providing good customer service depends on how well they can communicate, which means that bilingual workers often have an edge in a competitive job market. So if you are thinking of learning a new language to improve your resume or pursue your dream career, now is a better time than now. Find out how we can help you make connections that open the world to opportunity Head Honcho, Editor in Chief and writer here on VENTS. I don't like walking on the beach, but I love playing the guitar and geeking out about music. I am also a movie maniac and 6 hours sleeper.
La ville du sud du pays va désormais s’appelait Gqeberha pour effacer le passé colonial.
Watching films in your Android cellphone has its benefit. Since telephones are transportable, you’ll be able to watch films wherever. The portability is engaging, but it surely additionally means you might find yourself watching films in a crowded space. And in case you don’t personal a noise-canceling headphone, the hubbub will drown the audio. This is the place subtitles assist. Since you’ll be able to learn the dialogues in real-time, even in case you missed one thing in audio, you gained’t lose the context. Subtitles are fairly useful for a lot of causes. You can use them to know a film in a overseas language, watch exhibits in a loud setting, and revel in content material with out audio. Getting subtitles for movies in your Android cellphone can be simple. You can both robotically add a subtitle or obtain the subtitle file individually and add it to your video participant. Here are all of the strategies you could strive. How to Add Subtitles on Android (Updated February 2021) Here, now we have added 4 totally different strategies utilizing a number of video gamers so you could have many choices at your disposal. Based in your choice, you’ll be able to click on on the hyperlink beneath and transfer to the corresponding technique simply. Add Subtitles to Movies on Android Using VLC 1. First of all, obtain VLC for Android app (Free, gives in-app purchases) in your smartphone. 2. Next, open VLC and let it parse all of the media information in your Android smartphone. Now, simply open the film that you simply wish to play on VLC. After that, faucet on the “participant” icon on the bottom-left nook. 3. Here, develop the “Subtitles” menu and faucet on “Download subtitles“. 4. Now, it would search for subtitles on the web utilizing the metadata, file format, film size, and language to give you the perfect subtitles for the film. Within a number of seconds, you’re going to get a number of choices. Now, simply faucet on the “obtain” button on any of the subtitles and that’s it. 5. Subtitles can be immediately added to the film in your Android gadget immediately. If you discover there’s a delay in subtitles then you’ll be able to customise it from the identical menu or you’ll be able to obtain a brand new subtitle. Add Subtitles to Movies on Android Automatically Using MX Player 1. Another participant that provides on-line subtitles is MX Player (Free, Contains advertisements) so simply go forward and set up it in your Android gadget. 2. Next, open MX Player and play the film. Now, faucet on the “participant” icon on the top-right nook. 3. After that, click on on “Online subtitles“. 4. Now, you may be supplied a protracted record of subtitles in your film. You can tick the checkbox and faucet on “Download“. 5. And there you could have it, the subtitle can be utilized to the film robotically. Add Subtitles to a Movie on Android Manually In this technique, we have to obtain the subtitle file manually on our smartphone. There are many web sites that may allow you to obtain subtitles for films, TV exhibits, and music movies. Most of them are utterly free to make use of and provide subtitles in numerous languages. Some of the widespread web sites are talked about beneath: 1. Once you could have downloaded a subtitle, find it in your smartphone utilizing a file explorer and extract it. You ought to get a SRT file and that’s your subtitle file. 2. Now, open VLC and faucet on the “player” icon on the bottom-left nook and select “Select subtitle file“. 3. Now, simply navigate to the folder the place you could have saved the SRT file and choose it. 4. Finally, the subtitle can be added to the transfer and now you’ll be able to get pleasure from it with none difficulty. Use a Dedicated Subtitle Downloader For Android (Automatic) Now that you understand how so as to add subtitles to a video, it’s time to automate the method. It might be fairly troublesome to undergo the method talked about above for every video. This is why Play Store is stuffed with apps that may allow you to obtain subtitles in only a single faucet and even in batch mode. Most of those apps can combine along with your present video participant (in case you are utilizing a preferred one) and robotically add subtitles to it. Note: These apps use the unique identify of the video to seek for the subtitles, so be sure to identify your movies proper. 1. Get Subtitles Get Subtitles is an ad-supported app with a easy interface. It will robotically search for movies in your cellphone and present them in the principle interface. However, it doesn’t work nicely with exterior storage, however you’ll be able to manually seek for the video if it isn’t picked up. We should say the app is kind of quick and correct on the subject of discovering subtitles. Once you choose a video, all of the subtitles associated to it will likely be displayed. By default, you will notice “English” subtitles, however you’ll be able to change the language as nicely with the assist of as much as 170 totally different languages. All that you must do is faucet on the obtain button subsequent to the subtitle and it will likely be downloaded. There can be a button to straight play the video in your favourite video participant together with the downloaded subtitles. Install (Free, gives in-app purchases) 2. GMT Subtitles GMT Subtitles is a totally free-to-use app with none sort of advertisements. The app will seek for all of the movies in your cellphone and show them on the principle interface. From there, all that you must do is faucet on the video for which you want subtitles and they are going to be instantly displayed. If you suppose you bought the unsuitable subtitles (a uncommon factor), it’s also possible to manually search for the title of the video and seize the fitting file. It may search for movies within the folders shared over your community. This means even when the video is on one other gadget, you’ll be able to nonetheless get its subtitles. Install (Free, gives in-app purchases) 3. Subtitle Downloader Subtitle Downloader is an ad-supported app with a premium model that unlocks all options. The free model is definitely fairly restricted, however the paid model is certainly definitely worth the cash. Like different apps, it would additionally robotically seek for all of the movies in your cellphone, however the guide search characteristic is just obtainable within the paid model. The app will seek for the subtitles for you and you’ll simply obtain them with a single faucet. Furthermore, it additionally has the choice to rename a video file to get correct outcomes. The greatest characteristic of this app is that it could actually obtain subtitles in bulk, however this characteristic is a part of the paid model. With a single faucet, subtitles of all of your movies can be downloaded. Install (Free, gives in-app purchases) Automatically Add Subtitles and Enjoy Your Favorite Movies So these are the 4 greatest methods you’ll be able to add subtitles and sync them with films immediately. Personally, I exploit VLC because it helps each computerized and guide strategies and there are customizable choices too. Not to say, there are not any advertisements in anyway. Anyway, that’s all from us. But what about you? Do inform us about your favourite technique and which one do you discover extra dependable.
Writer and translator Akşit Göktürk (Archive Photo via AA). Language, and subsequently literature, is the single most important aspect of a culture and every culture needs to feed itself, be it with collective stories it accumulates across its history, with literary giants it raises throughout generations or with imports from other cultures' languages and literature, by translating them, adapting and reimagining them in its own unique way. Akşit Göktürk played a unique and significant part in modern Turkish culture by doing both, creating original works and translating foreign classics, and his influence on Turkey is still felt 33 years after his passing. Göktürk was born in eastern Turkey's Van province on Dec. 27, 1934. He traveled around the country with a thirst for education, completing his primary and secondary schools across three cities – Antakya, Adana and Van. He was already in love with literature when he arrived in Turkey's biggest city where he graduated from the English Language and Literature Department of Istanbul University's Literature Faculty in 1960. Unable to sit still, he moved to Erzurum to work as an instructor at Erzurum Atatürk University for two years before coming back to Istanbul in 1963 to serve as an assistant at the same Istanbul University department he had graduated from three years prior. Göktürk continued his academic work throughout the years at different universities, including the U.K.'s University of Nottingham and Germany's University of Konstanz, before finally becoming a professor at Istanbul University in 1978. As the years passed, Göktürk gained renown for his interpretations and he proved to be one of the greatest Turkish translators of the 20th century. His Turkish version of the famous “Robinson Crusoe” novel was awarded the Translation Award by the Turkish Language Association in 1969, an institution within which he would serve as an executive board member in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of his most prominent translations included “The Sacred Wood” by T.S. Eliot, which was a collection of the famous literary giant's various essays; “Robinson Crusoe,” a novel by Daniel Defoe first published in 1719, and “Treasure Island,” an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Göktürk would finally settle at the prestigious Boğaziçi University and give courses on the science of translation. He passed away on Feb. 26, 1988, leaving behind a body of work that influences Turkish art and culture to this day.
International Mother Language Day is all about celebrating the richness of the world’s different languages and cultures. It’s a time to reflect on and enjoy your mother tongue and to consider learning another language to experience the world in a new way. Alcatel suggests a few ways you can celebrate this day on your Android smartphone: Download the International Mother Language Day 21 February 1952 app: February 21 was first proclaimed as Language Movement Day in 1952 by Dhaka University students in Bangladesh, who were protesting suppression of their Bengali language. Police and military forces opened fire, killing many young people in attendance. Check out this app to learn more about the history of the language movement. Download the Google Translate app: Learning a new language? Then Google Translate will be your best friend. It offers text translation across 103 languages, offline translation with no internet connection (59 languages), instant camera translation (88 languages) and more. It includes support for Afrikaans, isiXhosa and isiZulu, as well as many other African, Asian, European and Middle Eastern languages. Download the African Storybook Reader app: The African Storybook Reader has a unique collection of over 1, 500 approved picture storybooks for early reading in 40 languages. No other publisher has the same range of languages nor access to the same network of authors, illustrators, and translators around Africa. Download the Lulla app: Lulla turns learning African languages into an adrenalin-filled game. In addition to isiXhosa and isiZulu, it offers lessons in Bambara, Baoule, Tamasheq, Swahili and more. Help your kids to learn and celebrate South African languages Support your children in exploring and learning more of South Africa’s wonderful languages. The Mzanzi Kids multilingual language learning app was created for children between the ages of two and six. It highlights everyday concepts and correct pronunciation in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi and Setswana. Listen to a radio broadcast: Celebrate your home language or improve your skills in another official language by enjoying a radio or TB broadcast. Share an inspiring message on social media: Why not use your smartphone camera to record a 30-second video in your mother tongue and post it on social media? You could, for example, record a TikTok or Facebook video about why you love your mother tongue and mention some of your favourite words and idioms. Or say something like stay at home, wear your musk in public and sanitise to help keep South Africans safe during this pandemic.
A great resume must have a skills section that shows the prospective employers that you possess the abilities required to succeed in a given role. In most cases, recruiters and hiring managers pay attention to the skills section of a resume to establish whether a given candidate should move to the next level of the hiring process. Here are the essential skills to put on a resume. Hard Or Technical Skills To Put On Your Resume. It is important to highlight specific certifications and proficiencies. For example, front-end developers can include their level of expertise in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS as well as other technologies that a specific employer has listed in their job post. Meanwhile, a financial controller can highlight their experience in SEC reporting, GAAP, and more. Other skills most in-demand fields include; Data Analysis: Most organizations require professionals who can collect and interpret technical data for different stakeholders. Many technical skills in this field range from in-depth knowledge of relational database theories to strong verbal and writing skills. Basic Bookkeeping and Accounting: Basic skills like collections, invoicing, account reconciliations, payments, and proficiency in QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks are essential skills you should have in your resume.
Data Privacy: the advent of the internet and advancements in technology have drawn more attention to cybersecurity. Most organizations that deal with proprietary client information or sensitive data require top talent with data privacy-related skills. Multilingualism: The higher the number of clients you can serve seamlessly, the greater the value you are to your prospective employers. The most sought-after second languages depend on city and industry. So if you know one or more foreign languages, be sure to indicate them in your resume. Other essential hard skills that should appear in your resume include typing skills, writing & editing, search engine optimization, project management, software proficiency, product design, research skills, process automation, enterprise resource planning, human resources, and mathematical skills. Keep in mind that you don’t have to possess all these skills. So, choose specific technical skills or abilities that you possess and include them in your resume. Soft Skills To Put In Your Resume The soft skills listed on your resume are as interesting and essential to the recruiter or hiring manager as your hard skills. Most smart managers understand that an experienced and trained new hire who cannot fit in the corporate culture, doesn’t communicate effectively with colleagues, or simply freezes under deadline pressures may not be the best talent to hire. Your resume should assure your prospective employer that you can successfully perform your job duties and at the same time fit in the corporate culture perfectly. This is the main reason you must include the following personal attributes and soft skills in your resume: Attention to Detail: Some mistakes can derail an organization’s short-term and long-term goals. Every employer wants someone who is careful and deliberate in everything they do. Start by proofreading your cover letter and resume to ensure that you don’t make errors. Adaptability: Are you a new hire learning processes, a manager adopting various transformation technologies, or simply a long-term staff member who is trying to adjust to changing management? Regardless of your current level, organizations need someone who can quickly adapt to new environments, technologies, and processes. Effective Communication: Regardless of the industry or job position, verbal and non-verbal communication skills are increasingly becoming important soft skills in the workplace. Nearly all prospective employers are looking for talent that can keep different audiences engaged without resorting to jargon. Other important soft skills that you can including your resume include collaboration, creativity, outstanding customer care service, empathy, ability to multitask effectively, proper decision-making, leadership skills, problem-solving skills, and positivity. You can also include other skills such as work ethic, self-motivation, and time management in your resume.
An Irish family has won an appeal in the highest ecclesiastical court in Britain to have an inscription in Irish on their mother's grave.
Several events and protests were held in different parts of Karachi on Sunday in connection with International Mother Language Day, a worldwide observance held every February 21 to promote multilingualism and awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity. The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and the Punjabi Students Association (PSA) organised separate rallies outside the Karachi Press Club, where speakers called for saving mother languages to forge greater national unity and a pluralistic society. While speaking to the participants of the rally, PkMAP Sindh President Nazir Jan Lala and central leader Abdul Rauf Lala said that mother languages are the identities of communities and reflect the cultures and traditions of the natives. They called for the medium of instruction in schools and colleges to be in the mother languages, particularly in Pashto in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Balochi in Balochistan. The PkMAP’s Nazir Jan said that Pakistan is a multilingual state, but the successive governments have been ignoring the importance of the mother languages as a medium of instruction in schools, which has created a sense of deprivation among the indigenous people. A large number of PSA members from various academic institutions of the city attended the rally to mark International Mother Language Day. Speakers at the rally demanded the promotion of their mother language Punjabi and its teaching at schools. The PSA’s leaders said that as the constitution of Pakistan also provides for the promotion of local languages, Punjab should immediately make Punjabi a medium of instruction and also make it a compulsory subject in public and private schools. On February 21, 1952, students of the Dhaka University had held a protest to demand that Bangla be declared a national language of Pakistan because 56 per cent of the country’s population at that time was Bengali-speaking. The police had opened fire on them and killed five students.
Microsoft has added nine new languages for text translation in Microsoft Translator: Albanian, Amharic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Khmer, Lao, Myanmar, Nepali, and Tigrinya. The addition is dedicated to International Mother Language Day, held annually on February 21st by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. With the addition of these nine new languages, Microsoft Translator text translation is now available in 83 different languages, with additional dialects being available in languages like French and Portuguese and multiple writing systems being available in languages like Chinese and Serbian. These languages are available now in the Microsoft Translator apps, Office, and Translator for Bing to translate text to or from any of the 83 languages
EVERY year, we in Bangladesh observe February 21 as Shahid Dibash, or the “Day of Martyrs,” with deep respect. We remember those who sacrificed their lives on this day in 1952 to establish our right to speak in Bangla, our mother language. The government of then-Pakistan decided that Urdu would be the only state language of the said country. Bengalis, who comprise the majority of the population of Pakistan whose mother tongue is Bangla, protested and demanded that both Urdu and Bangla be the official languages. Students came out in protest in Dhaka on February 21, 1952. Many were killed on the streets when police fired at them. Eventually Bangla did become the official language of Pakistan, but the sad event fired-up Bengali nationalism. And with time, under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman—our Father of the Nation—Bangladesh emerged independent through a nine-month-long liberation war. As we celebrate his birth centenary and the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence this year, February 21 holds more significance in 2021. It was on the said date we realized that the very essence of our culture and identity was at stake. Bangladesh, which means “the country where Bangla is spoken,” perhaps, is the only country in the world known by its language. This reflects our passionate love for our mother tongue, representing our cultural heritage of thousands of years. For every individual, the mother tongue is crucial to his or her identity. Language is not only a means through which we communicate; it is also a medium that carries our age-old heritage to us from our ancestors. It connects people, time and generations. A child learns its mother tongue from her mother, family and society. Therefore, it shapes a child into the kind of person he or she would be one day. It is one of the first tools of a child for emotional and cognitive development that builds its personal universe, and connects him or her to the wider world to the actions of understanding, of being understood, and most important, of creativity. These pieces of learning never really fade away, notwithstanding a tiny community speaks the child’s mother tongue. Like a river, language also has its own course: it adapts, adopts and morphs. It, too, thrives or dies. In this world, every year, many languages become extinct. And with them die the knowledge and the wisdom that they carry: the myths, legends, folklores, emotions, sounds, symbols—the entire evolution. Therefore, we must remember that with the death of every language, we also lose a part of who we are, and what we could offer to the world. That, indeed, is an enormous loss. ‘Mother Language Day’ IN March 1998 a multilingual and multi-ethnic group residing in Canada known as the “Mother Language Lovers of the World” wrote to the United Nations secretary general. It highlighted that many small ethnic groups are forced to use other languages, and eventually are deprived of their mother tongue, forcing the latter to be near-extinct. Members suggested observing a day globally every year as the “Mother Language Day” and proposed February 21 for the same reason, due to the immense sacrifices made on the said day for the rights of speaking in one’s mother tongue in Bangladesh. The group included 10 individuals: two of them spoke Bangla (Rafiqul Islam and Abdus Salam); two in English; two, Tagalog/Filipino (Albert Vinzon and Carmen Cristobal); an Urdu; a German; a Cantonese; and a Hindi. Bangladesh, as a state, soon adopted and pursued the idea within the framework of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). Finally, to celebrate the diversity of languages and the concomitant heritage values that they carry, the Unesco General Conference declared February 21 as “International Mother Language Day (IMLD)” on November 17, 1999. The day that we Bangladeshis observe as the “Day of Commitment to our Language” thus became a global occasion to celebrate the linguistic diversity and heritages of the world. According to one estimate, more than 6,000 languages are spoken around the world. Every language has its own organic growth. Some are written, some are not. Many also accompany expressions, gestures or reflections. All these carry certain traits of history and culture of the people speaking in the language—not to mention that each one is endowed with a vast ocean of creative omnibus. Languages: Irreplaceable heritage ON IMLD, we celebrate all the languages of the world: all 6,000 of them, and more. We pay our homage to all our mother tongues, equally. We value each one of them with its own traditions, creative wealth, wisdom, sounds, symbols and emotions. They are our common irreplaceable heritage. We do not want them to be extinct. We commit ourselves to spare no efforts to save them, as they reflect the diversity of our humanity, our plurality, and our common inheritance in them.
A guide called ‘Using Language to Conquer’ brings important words for Brazilians to communicate in 22 languages, including Arabic, to serve as a tool in business. From the Newsroom
newsroom@anba.com.br São Paulo – A book in Portuguese called Usando a língua para conquistar [Using Language to Conquer] teaches key words for speaking in several languages, including Arabic. The book was launched last Sunday (21) and brings words in 22 languages that are important to approach people from different cultures. In addition to Arabic, the book brings words in German, Chinese, Spanish, French, Greek, Hebraic, Hindustani, Dutch, Indonesian, English, Yoruba, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Polish, Russian, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. It also includes fun facts on Brazilian aboriginal language Tupi-Guarani and Allamej, a language created by the author Rodrigo Solano, who’s a intercultural communication researcher. “Hearing words in our own language in a foreign setting is a sign of sympathy and interest and usually evokes a good feeling,” says the author, who drafted up the guide for entrepreneurs, professionals and students in international business and tourism. The book is not a language course, but brings an introductory knowledge aimed at evoking empathy and facilitating business. Solano says the Arabic features heavily across the book, which includes information about the peoples who speak it and differences from languages spoken in areas close to the Arab countries, such as Turkish in Turkey and Persian in Iran. “The Arabic is certainly one of the most important languages to learn. It was once an international language in sciences and philosophy and is now spoken in more than 22 countries,” says the author, who adds he harbors a special affection for the language. Find out more about Arabic: Solano is also an expert in International Marketing and Clinical Culture. He works with chambers of commerce, industry associations, and projects by the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) in developing markets and training companies to go global. In addition to other titles and experiences, Solano is a consultant and partner at Think global, an initiative for internationalization development and training. The guide was published online on the website of Think Global on February 21, the International Mother Language Day. The 375-page book can be acquired as an e-book on Amazon or in print. The latter, however, includes shipping costs from overseas. When buying it, you will have access to a Quizlet learning app, with memorization tools, games and audio support for most of the languages featured in the book. Quick Facts: “Usando a Língua para Conquistar”
Author: Rodrigo Solano
Pages: 375
Publishing House: Think Global
Amazon
ASIN : B08VY8ZYFN
Price: BRL 75,42 (plus shipping cost)
E-book price: BRL 23,50 Translated by Guilherme Miranda
«Las traductoras leen a sus autoras» (Día Internacional de la Mujer 2021) Tenemos muchas ganas de celebrar el Día Internacional de la Mujer y para ello os invitamos a participar en la siguiente actividad organizada conjuntamente por el Máster en Traducción Literaria y Audiovisual de la BSM-UPF, la Facultad de Traducción de la UPF y ACE Traductores: Día Internacional de la Mujer 2021
Las traductoras leen a sus autoras
Encuentro en línea – lunes 8 de marzo a partir de las 17:00 h Si queréis leer un breve fragmento de una traducción vuestra al español, catalán, gallego o euskera de la obra de una autora, escribid a helena.aguila.ruzola@gmail.com con el asunto «Lectura 8M» y se os facilitarán las instrucciones necesarias y el enlace de acceso a la sesión. (Inscripciones abiertas hasta el jueves 4 de marzo a las 18:00 h). Si preferís asistir solo como público al encuentro virtual, escribid a helena.aguila.ruzola@gmail.com con el asunto «Asistencia 8M» y se os facilitará el enlace de acceso a la sesión. (Inscripciones abiertas hasta el mismo lunes 8 de marzo a las 13:00 h). Os esperamos, ¡no faltéis!
Yusuf Idris in a new edition
A collection of stories by the late Egyptian writer Yusuf Idris is reaching wider audiences in English translation
David Tresilian , Thursday 25 Feb 2021
Rather like proverbial London buses that make passengers wait for one to come along, and then three arrive at once, English-language publishers abroad have finally been waking up to the rich back catalogue of works of modern Arabic literature already available in high-quality English translations.
A classic English-language version of Sudanese writer Tayeb Salih’s 1966 novel Season of Migration to the North by veteran translator Denys Johnson-Davies made it into the catalogue of UK publisher Penguin almost two decades ago, followed by a similarly well-established translation of Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim’s 1933 novel Return of the Spirit by William Hutchins in 2019.
As if to complete the group of three, Wadida Wassef’s 1970s translation of The Cheapest Nights, a collection of stories by Egyptian writer Yusuf Idris, has now appeared in a new edition published by Penguin. It is to be hoped that it will introduce the work of Idris to wider audiences and be the harbinger of additional works in widely circulating and high-quality English-language translations.
The new Penguin edition of Idris’s stories includes a foreword by Egyptian novelist Ezzedine Fishere introducing them to a new generation of readers along with Wassef’s original introduction. This usefully situates Idris in the wider context and provides readers with pointers on what to expect when they first open a collection of his stories.
Born in 1927 in a small town in the Delta, Idris first came to Cairo as a medical student. While he initially welcomed the July 1952 Revolution that ended monarchical rule in Egypt, he was soon disillusioned with the apparent inability of the country’s new rulers to make good on some of their promises, particularly with regard to wider political participation and more even economic development.
Idris joined a larger group of writers and others known for their opposition to the revolutionary regime’s sometimes anti-democratic tendencies. Unlike his elders, however, who sometimes passed over the lives of the mass of their countrymen in their writings and described instead the lives of the Cairo middle classes, Idris was determined to describe the lives of the Egyptian lower-middle and working classes and have them speak directly in their own voices.
Perhaps this had something to do with his own social background, but whether for this or for other reasons, even today readers may well be struck by the range of experience recorded in the stories collected both in this new edition of The Cheapest Nights and elsewhere. “All on a Summer’s Night,” for example, one of the stories in the Penguin volume, describes an incident in the lives of a group of young men in a Delta village in a way that is entirely free of sentimentality or condescension.
Comparing this story with earlier works depicting Egyptian village life, whether from the bureaucratic heights of al-Hakim’s novel Diary of a Country Prosecutor, in which the residents of Delta villages can be made into figures of fun, or even Abdel-Rahman al-Sharqawi’s famous novel The Earth, in which they take their place in an elaborate political argument, it is easy to see that with Idris a new and powerful voice had entered the literary arena.
Perhaps it is for this reason that Fishere in his foreword says of Idris that though his ideological commitments were always clear, his characters are also always presented in and for themselves, being introduced neither to entertain the reader nor to advance a sociological thesis. Idris’s stories “deal mostly with poverty and injustice – and there was no shortage of either,” Fishere says. Like many other writers of his generation, “he stood with the poor and underprivileged and traced the source of their suffering to Egypt’s political and social conditions.”
“Yet Idris’s characters, even the most rudimentarily described, are real; they are conflicted, struggling, and facing real-life challenges, not types. This is why they stay with the reader long after one’s finished reading.” Fishere adds that having grown up in the Delta city of Mansoura, not so very far from where Idris was born some generations before, he can still remember the first time he read one of Idris’s stories.
“I had never read such a graphic description in Arabic,” Fishere says. “It was so poignant, it almost hurt.” There was the sense in which through his use of the Egyptian spoken dialect and of a “surgical style and an economical use of language, hostile to redundancy, hyperbole, and melodrama” in the written language, Idris was handing down important discoveries to subsequent generations of writers.
Widening horizons: Although he lived until 1991 and was publishing works of fiction and other material almost up until the end, Idris perhaps had his most lasting successes in the 1950s and 1960s.
Some of the reasons for his later fame can be found in The Cheapest Nights, first published in Arabic in 1954, but including later stories in Wassef’s Penguin translation. In addition to “All on a Summer’s Night,” for example, in fact coming from a 1959 collection called Dregs of the City, the English version of The Cheapest Nights also includes the title story of this later collection as well as other pieces.
Among the most notable are the remarkable “Did you Have to Turn the Light on Li-Li?” from the 1970 collection House of Flesh, “The Shame” from the 1960 collection of the same name – a similar story, novel length, later inspired a famous film – and “Al-Sheikh Sheikha,” here rendered as “The Freak,” from the 1966 collection The Ends of the Earth.
Perhaps the earlier stories are mainly characterised by descriptions of the human consequences of poverty and injustice, like in the title story which spells out how these things can suffocate hopes and force aspirations into narrow channels. Later ones can become both longer and deeper, like in “Dregs of the City,” almost novella length, a penetrating study of sexual jealousy with overtones of class-related spite reminiscent of work by the Swedish writer August Strindberg. There are shorter and more concentrated pieces, whose aim may have been to capture the essence of an often somehow stigmatised individual in a very few words.
Reading the stories again, some readers might be struck by how many refer to something like a loss of innocence or at least to the acquisition of experience that can act like a form of poisoning. “Dregs of the City” is a terrifying account of the destruction of a maidservant by a rich employer, who apparently acts out of a mixture of idleness and vanity in a kind of motiveless, even trivial, malignity that nevertheless has serious consequences.
“All on a Summer’s Night” describes the acquisition of another kind of experience, this time attended by more brutal violence. “Did you Have to Turn the Light on Li-Li?”, written in a first-person confessional mode, outlines what seem to be festering sexual fantasies entertained against a local woman.
In his Essential Youssef Idris, a selection of Idris’s short stories put together by Denys Johnson-Davies in 2009, there are other stories that flesh out some of Idris’s characteristic themes, though, as his editor notes, Idris’s stories, already scattered in their Arabic original versions in the various magazines and collections in which they appeared, can be even harder to track down in English versions. In addition to Wassef’s versions of the stories collected in The Cheapest Nights, there are also four longer stories, almost novellas, available in English versions by Catherine Cobham in the collection Rings of Burnished Brass (1984), and an early novel, City of Love and Ashes, that appeared in an English translation by R. Neil Hewison in 1999.
“Rings of Burnished Brass” presents one side of Idris at his best – Cobham’s translation is included in the Essential Yusuf Idris – and is the story of a boy who takes a middle-aged woman as his sexual partner, perhaps inevitably seeing the relationship as simply a step towards sexual knowledge. While the collection also includes some stories not easily available elsewhere, such as the remarkable “House of Flesh” and “Farahat’s Republic,” it does not include Cobham’s version of “The Black Policeman,” another study in poisonous experience, this time of a military conscript set to work in the monarchical regime’s prisons before the 1952 Revolution.
As Johnson-Davies notes in his introduction to his edited volume, Idris was also an important journalist and commentator, and standard bibliographies of his work list dozens of essay and other collections, sadly none of them translated into English. He was an important dramatist – and his 1964 play Al-Farafir (“Small Fry”) was a notable attempt to cast off European models for Egyptian theatre and return instead to more local sources including the traditions of the aragoz (puppet theatre), shadow plays, popular epics and chanted tales, and the samir, or evening gatherings in which dramatic stories were at one time told.
This side of Idris, his theoretical and manifesto pieces on Egyptian theatre, has also not been translated into English.
Yusuf Idris, The Cheapest Nights. Trans. Wadida Wassef, New York: Penguin, 2020, pp185.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 25 February, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Bambara is a local language in Mali spoken and understood by about 15 million Malians. It is the most widely spoken language locally and trumps the usage of French, the country’s colonial language. Blind people in Mali now have a sense of belonging as Braille experts and linguists have translated Bambara into Braille. The journey to achieving this remarkable feat began in 2019 when Issiako Ballo, a linguist expert at the University of Bamako, was approached by Sightsavers, a non-profit to be the lead linguist in the project to adapting Braille to Bambara. Ballo saw this as an opportunity for blind students in Mali to have more access to education because almost everyone has command over Bambara, and expressing ideas and thoughts when the language is well understood facilitates the learning process. “If they can learn these subjects in their language, I think that will only strengthen the knowledge and mastery of science, the knowledge, and mastery of the literature, the knowledge about the world around us,” he said. There was the need to develop additional alphabets for the translation of Bambara to Braille because unlike French, Bambara has more alphabets and intonations. However, the experts had to fit the new letters into the six points available in the Braille cell. People like Moussa Keita who have been at the Malian Union of the Blind (UMAV), have received education in French Braille and will soon be one of six teachers to teach Braille in the country’s most widely spoken language. Keita is ecstatic about the new opportunities that will be available to students if tutoring should commence with Braille in Bambara. “When I think of this project, that thought not just of the visually handicapped, but moreover, that thought of Africans, particularly of Malians, to write Braille in their language … to try and adapt Braille to Bambara, which isn’t even the official language … really, it’s a feeling of pride and joy for us,” he said to VOA. One student at the Malian Union of the Blind explained what this translation means to him. He said now when one does not comprehend anything in French, they can easily read and understand it in Bambara then translate it back into French. This breakthrough will bring the necessary inclusivity for all those who did not get a chance at education because not every blind person is French literate but most of them can speak Bambara. The translation also gives ‘autonomy’ to those who, according to Abdoulaye Diallo, a blind physical therapist and a Braille specialist, were in the ‘margins’. Bambara Braille will ‘save’ them now because tutoring in many schools is done in the local language rather than in French. Linguists are looking at translating Fulani and Songhay, Mali’s other national languages, to Braille. In Mali, there are an estimated 160,000 blind people, statistics from the Ministry of Health show. A report by The Observers says many children go blind from preventable illnesses such as measles, conjunctivitis or eye trauma. It said “harmful traditional practices” can also cause blindness. Enter email address to receive updates from Face2face Africa
Literacy skills are vital for young learners, so how do we do that best during lockdowns around the world? This teacher has some ideas that may help With schools around the world jumping in and out of lockdown, and the light at the end of the tunnel seemingly diminishing and reappearing every few weeks, good-quality learning in literacy needs to find other ways to continue. Developing a love of literacy is the goal. However, with so many plates for children to spin – with the inclusion of success criteria, idea generation and correct grammar use – getting children excited and engaged about their writing while in class can be tricky enough. Teaching remotely can make this even harder. But with innovation and creative we can make it work. Here are 8 tips for boosting literacy skills remotely. 1. Cross-curricular lessons With home learning, lessons may seem disjointed to children and parents. If lessons are cross-curricular, though, they can provide continuity, add purpose and ultimately make home learning simpler. When children apply their writing to aspects of a topic that they have already learned, this reinforces previous learning and means that the focus can be on the new learning objective. Making each topic into a project, building up to an exciting extended piece of work will take advantage of this. For example, recently we learned about animals and their habitats. During our English lessons, we developed an understanding of non-fiction writing and practised writing different sentence types. In topic we researched habitats around the world and watched snippets from documentaries. For our extended writing, the children wrote non-chronological reports. They were then encouraged to use their presentational skills to create their own exciting documentaries. 2. Child-led learning Giving children the chance to explore their interests and vote on the topics covered will give them a sense of ownership and control, increasing their motivation and enthusiasm. Make this fun by using online polls and questionnaires, share the results and give options for how each piece of work can be completed. Last summer, we were learning about plants and food that is grown. After researching foods that the children had chosen as a class, I gave them the challenge of completing their own project based on their favourite fruit or vegetable. The children were given guidelines and examples of work. The work I received back was amazingly creative. One child submitted a video diary each week; other children created posters and art pieces. 3. Integrate technology Following active learning, there are endless apps and websites available that can be used creatively to engage children and transform their writing. Create literacy-themed scavenger hunts on apps such as GooseChase, ask the children to take pictures and use them to practise conjunctions or descriptive writing. Websites such as Kahoot! and Quizlet are great resources for quick assessment; you can complete them as a class through a shared screen or individually. Instead of wasting paper, Popplet can be used to create colourful and interactive spider diagrams. 4. Talk for writing Instead of sending worksheets for short sentence activities, giving children the opportunity to speak, discuss and explain will develop confidence and literacy skill. Through voice notes and videos, children can build up to writing by practising their ideas and planning their sentences before putting pen (or pencil) to paper. 5. Creative presentation Reading out loud improves understanding of grammar and punctuation. After completing a piece of writing, set children the task of presenting it in a creative way. With non-fiction work, challenge the children to become documentary presenters, ask them to dress up and use pictures and videos alongside their narration. With fiction, the children can record themselves reading their stories like an author at a book reading. Choose a few different children each day, highlight their successes and share their recordings with the rest of the class. With each new challenge, the children will become more creative and enthusiastic, producing their own shows and developing their own style. Every writing lesson, I encourage students to record themselves after finishing their writing. Some of my class have now developed their own mini-series, starting each recording with a fun greeting and dressing up for the part. Every day, during our goodbye call, I choose a couple of my favourite examples and share my screen. 6. Find a purpose Having a purpose increases motivation and makes learning meaningful. Find a purpose for writing and share it with the students early on. This could be sending work based on a book to the author, creating information leaflets and news reports for the community, or publishing work online for parents to read. Using the story Meerkat Mail, by Emily Gravett, we wrote our own innovative stories. We then shared our work with the parents and sent it to the author. Both children and teachers were incredibly excited when we received a reply! 7. Use the community Make lessons real by using people as resources. Send questions to authors, professionals and family members to base reports and stories around. Invite special guests on to calls for Q&A sessions or ask for videos to be sent in. Your students will be excited about talking to someone new and your lessons will become more memorable. When writing non-chronological reports about jobs, my pupils designed their own questions that were answered in videos and via a Zoom call from key workers. The children then used the answers to write reports. 8. Read, read, read Encourage children to read or listen to an audiobook every day. Tell children to find books that interest them. If they start reading one and don’t like it, they can find another. For younger children and students with English as an additional language, Unite for Literacy has books in English with second language narration. For children without access to books at home, Audible, YouTube and Storyline Online are amazing resources. Create a Padlet or similar shared space where the children can share, recommend and discuss what they have read. Gemma Tonge is a primary teacher at a British International school in China. She has taught internationally for three years
An excerpt from ‘The Runaway Boy’, by Manoranjan Byapari, translated from the Bengali by V Ramaswamy. Garib Das stood firm upon his Bhishma-like vow. He would educate Jibon, come what may. After all this wasn’t Barisal, that land of marshes and woods, where children had to cross canals, rivers and lakes, and walk two or three miles to go to school. And back in the country, it wasn’t like the children of the untouchable Nama folk were allowed inside the school even if they went there. The school authorities would immediately flare up with grimaces and snarls. “What on earth have you come here for? What will you gain by going to school? After all you’re only going to catch fish and push the plough. Where’s the need for schooling for that?” If the student did not flee at that rebuke, if he stubbornly hung on like a leech, the master would frighten him: “If you’re unable to learn, I’ll have the skin off your back. I’ll break as many as four canes on your back.” If even that didn’t frighten the student, the master would then say, “Go and sit quietly in that corner. Don’t touch anyone, don’t talk to anybody, don’t touch the water-pot.” Here, at least it wasn’t like that. The schoolmaster and students were all low-caste. But the thrashing was there. That had to be there. A stone could never become an idol without the wounds inflicted by hammer and chisel. But Bimala! Many children in the camp suffered the terror of the skin off their backs, and made their parents suffer that too. There was nothing one could do about that. Garib reflected that the schools in the old country were like a dangerous forest, where children of Brahmins and Kayasthas roamed like a pack of hunting dogs. If one or two children of the Nama folk went there, their plight was like that of a meek hare. Everyone pounced upon them, abused them and beat them. If someone complained, the master found fault with him and beat him instead. Most children fled for their lives from that hostile educational system. They never advanced beyond Class 2 or Class 3. If a Nama parent was hell-bent on educating his child, he would send the child to Bagerhat College, which had been established by Guruchand Thakur, the great idol of the Namasudra community. There was no caste oppression there, no discrimination. There was no caste oppression in this camp either. Those who indulged in that – the Brahmins, Kayasthas and Baidyas – did not want to live together with low-caste folk, on account of caste arrogance and economic well-being. They stayed far away from them. Only all the low-caste, destitute people were compelled to come here – those whose stale panta rice ran out even before salt could be fetched, those who were utterly bereft. Even though all the officers and government employees who had come here were high-caste, they were all from West Bengal. They were less casteist in their mentality, relatively speaking, than the upper-castes in East Bengal. They did not give much importance to caste divisions and prejudice, as much as they did to whether someone was educated and wealthy or not, that is to say, whether they were bhadralok or chhotolok. For them, “poor” and “illiterate” were synonymous with chhotolok; those who lacked means and education were chhotolok. That was why the dark-skinned babu, Bhuban Barui, addressed them with the disrespectful tui. It did not behove the dignity of a bhadralok to address a chhotolok deferentially, as apni. For precisely the same reason, the dark-skinned babu accorded respect to Khagen Mandal, a Namasudra. He always asked him to sit on a chair when he came. Khagen Mandal was a relative of the undisputed leader of East Pakistan, Jogen Mandal. He was educated and well-off. If he wanted, he could have, instead of coming to the camp, purchased a house and stayed there. But if he did that, a few hundred families – who had fled their country, accompanying him – would become hapless orphans. He had chosen this harsh life on their account. Everyone in the camp heeded and respected Khagen babu. It was from him that Garib Das had heard that there was no wealth greater than education. Garib Das had high hopes. He would make his son a scholar like Khagen babu. He too would read the newspaper like Khagen Mandal. People would crowd at his door to hear all the news about the country and the world. Khagen babu had one day narrated the story of how their community – that had come to be regarded as “Chandal” – had in time been accepted as Namasudras in society and in government records. Whether their plight was on account of Ballal Sen’s fiat, or for whatever other reason – the lives of East Bengal’s suffering Namasudra folk had been witnessed first-hand by the humanist poet Rabindranath Thakur. In 1911, in his essay titled “The Right to Religion”, he had written: “I went to the villages and saw that other castes do not work on the fields of the Namasudra folk, they do not harvest their paddy. They do not build their houses. In other words, in order to survive in the world, people expect others’ assistance. Yet our society regards them as unworthy of even that. For no fault of theirs, we make their lives difficult and unbearable, and punish them every day, from the day they are born till the moment they die.” Every morning, there was a crowd of people in front of Khagen babu’s tent. They were there that day too. Garib had reached a bit later. He did not know what they were discussing. He sat down on the mat, beside Jagadish Biswas. Khagen babu was reading out from a book. Hearing him mention the name of Rabindranath Thakur suddenly, Garib’s ears pricked up. Garib knew about many thakurs, or gods, but all those thakurs lived in heaven. He knew only of two thakurs who were men of this earth. They were Harichand Thakur and his son, Guruchand Thakur. Hearing the name of another thakur now, he whispered to Jagadish Biswas, “Who’s Rabin Thakur? Where’s his ashram?” Jagadish Biswas gestured with his hands to Garib to keep quiet, and said, “Just hear him now. We’ll ask Khagen babu about it later. He must surely be some big sage or gosain.” The notable point here was that Rabindranath Thakur referred to the Namasudra folk as “Namasudras”, and not by any other name. Meaning that, when he wrote that essay, the Namasudra community had already gained formal recognition – as Namasudras – in government records. But it goes without saying that this did not happen so easily. The first ever census in this country was conducted during British rule. Sex, age, caste and so on were all meticulously recorded. All the public servants upon whom the responsibility of the census devolved, were – for the usual reasons – high-caste. Disregarding the actual responses of the people of the Namasudra caste, they persisted in writing “Chandal” instead of Namasudra in the place assigned for caste identity. They were simply adhering to the fiat prevalent from Ballal Sen’s time. The Namasudra community exploded in protest. At that time, in Orakandi, in the Faridpur district of East Bengal, Guruchand Thakur, the gifted son of Harichand Thakur, the founder of the Matua faith, had become widely recognised as the leader of the Namasudra community. Under his leadership, a strike was observed throughout East Bengal, which had a tremendous impact in Barisal, Faridpur, Khulna and Jessore districts. It was in these regions that the population of Namasudras was the highest. A ray of light had entered the life of the Namasudra community then. With the help of the Australian missionary Meade sahib and the initiative of Guruchand Thakur, a high school was established in Orakandi. And a band of zealous youths strived and moved ahead rapidly, in their quest for social transformation. They were led by the Louhopurush, Guruchand Thakur. It was a time signalling a great awakening. Through the organisation of the Matua faith, the Namasudras began to express themselves in the form of a united force. Later, there was a fierce movement to change the community’s name. They had thought that with the victory achieved through that movement, the indignity of bearing the yoke of the name “Chandal” would also come to an end. Little did they know that even if the name were to be changed, there would be no change in the mentality of people from higher castes. Like a secret, subterranean stream, it would remain in the inner recesses of their minds. Finally, as a result of the movement, the community was formally recognised under the name Namasudra in 1911. Whether out of hatred or habit, some public servants still recorded them as “Chandal”. Which was why the colonial government declared that whoever recorded the caste identity of Namasudras as “Chandal” or anything else – instead of Namasudra – would lose his job. The fear of losing one’s job was indeed a great one, and so they did not have the courage to write anything else. Excerpted with permission from The Runaway Boy: Chandal Jibon Trilogy Book One, Manoranjan Byapari, translated from the Bengali by V Ramaswamy, Eka/Westland. Support our journalism by subscribing to Scroll+. We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in.
Helen Wood, head of school partnerships at Password English Language Testing, discusses issues schools need to consider when evaluating online entrance tests for EAL learners Back in January I ran a CPD webinar with COBIS entitled Reliable Online Admissions Testing, which focused on the language required for success in the socio-academic context of English medium instruction. In it, I considered the importance of validity, reliability and security when introducing any form of high-stakes assessment, such as an admissions test for international pupils. In feedback gathered by COBIS, most of the participants rated the webinar as excellent and reported they would recommend it to a colleague. Given those positive reviews, here is a quick summary for anyone also currently involved in evaluating potential online entrance tests for their own school. Second language development can be classified in two ways. Initially, learners acquire what are called basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS). This early language development is primarily based on speaking and listening skills and within two to five years an EAL learner may appear as ‘fluent’ as a native speaker. However, it takes considerably longer (on average seven years) for EAL learners to achieve cognitive academic linguistic proficiency (CALP), even in an immersive context. This is because becoming fully biliterate/bilingual requires equally strong skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Critically, that means testing the English language skills of a pupil entering English medium instruction needs a tool appropriate to the task. Assessments that are designed for native speakers are unsuitable because an EAL pupil’s results on any such standardised test will be dependent on their linguistic proficiency at the time of taking it. On the other hand, the most commonly used online English language tests focus on content and activities which relate to day-to-day communication. So, while such general English placement tests might quickly tell you how well a prospective pupil will settle socially at school, they will not give you an accurate insight into whether the individual will thrive academically, nor how much English language support might be necessary to allow them to reach their true potential. Yet this is vital information. Used by over 300 schools, colleges and universities worldwide, Password tests are a trusted name in assessment of academic English language EAL learners who achieve academic linguistic proficiency by the time they hit exam years tend to out-perform native speakers in their GCSEs, but for those who do not, research tells us the attainment penalty is severe. With all that in mind, it is tempting to fall back on creating an in-house test, designed by your own team of EAL experts. However, that throws up issues not just relating to the reliability of test content if not thoroughly piloted, but also around security. A test becomes vulnerable to cheating the moment it comes in the form of a PDF attachment, especially in the current circumstances, where the option of using British Council offices and staff for invigilation purposes is not available. So, when evaluating the assessment options for your prospective EAL learners, here are three questions to ask: 1. Who was the test designed for? (eg native or non-native users of English)
2. What was the purpose of the test? (eg to assess general or academic English)
3. How secure is the test? (eg how vulnerable is the test to malpractice). Password Pupil English tests were designed to provide accurate information on prospective international pupils’ academic linguistic proficiency. Based on research by world-leading academics in the field of English language learning and assessments, and delivered online using a secure browser and an enormous database of questions from which each test is uniquely generated, they provide schools with an own-branded test that is fit for purpose. Our academic management constantly review test data and our qualified markers are experienced at spotting plagiarism. Our friendly support team provide free training for schools and their trusted agents, so that ‘at home’ testing can be used with the protection of remote invigilation while the pandemic restricts test-taking in person. Used by over 300 schools, colleges and universities worldwide, Password tests are a trusted name in assessment of academic English language. If you want to put our assessments to the test, get in touch for a demonstration. E: contact@englishlanguagetesting.co.uk W: www.englishlanguagetesting.co.uk
La creatividad literaria no ha parado a pesar de que 2020 ha sido un año difícil para el sector, y poco a poco van viendo la luz los resultados de tanto trabajo. Entre ellos, las traducciones del euskera subvencionadas por Etxepare Euskal Institutua, que han comenzado a publicarse. Hasta ahora han llegado a librerías cinco publicaciones y está por llegar el sexto. El Instituto concedió el pasado año una subvención para un total de 28 obras vascas, con un presupuesto de 64.913 euros. Poesía, novela, cuento, ensayo… Son muchos los contenidos traducidos del euskera. Por ejemplo, las ya publicadas hasta ahora incluyen el libro de poesía multilingüe ‘En las ciudades. Nas ciudades. Hirietan’ de Beatriz Chivite, con traducciones de Isaac Xubin; ‘Nika Vekilanka’, versión eslovena del cuento ‘Rita gigante’ de Mikel Valverde traducida por Zalozba Malinc; ‘Atãria’ de Yolanda Arrieta Malaxetxebarria, traducida al castellano por la propia escritora; y ‘Armoniskuja’ de Joxemari Iturralde (‘Perlas, golpes, besos y traiciones’), editado por Lurra Editions en finlandés. Gerardo Markuleta Gutierrez también ha traducido al español el libro de poesía de Kirmen Uribe ‘19 segundos’. Además, la novela de Katixa Agirre ‘Atertu arte itxaron´, ‘Esperar a que pare’ en castellano, será publicada próximamente en alemán por Edition Converso. La lista de otros libros que se publicarán a lo largo de este año incluye ‘Etxeak eta hilobiak’ o ‘De casas y tumbas’ de Bernardo Atxaga, ‘Miñan’ de Ibrahim Balde y Amets Arzallus, ‘Amek ez dute’ o ‘Las madres no’ de Katixa Agirre y dos libros antológicos sobre poesía vasca. Una de las principales líneas de trabajo de Etxepare Euskal Institutua es la promoción de la traducción al euskera. Anualmente concede ayudas para la traducción de obras de autores vascos a lenguas extranjeras, así como la gestión de otras actividades que fomenten la traducción; como el Premio Etxepare - LABORAL Kutxa de Traducción.
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Scoop.it!
International (MNN) – Gift-giving is a major part of Christmas celebrations, but many people don’t even have the gift of God’s Word.
Wycliffe Bible Translators supports Bible translation around the world into local languages so people can read God’s Word in the language their heart understands. This year, Wycliffe USA created a gift catalog of 23 projects to support Bible translation and discipleship. They’re featuring projects in places ranging from Japan to Mexico to Cameroon.
Melissa Stillman, director of development at Wycliffe USA, explains that the gift catalog allows Wycliffe USA to connect people with projects Wycliffe is working on.
“We get to represent a variety of areas of the world and focus on the tangibility of the projects,” she says.
“So things like printed scripture, audio, and video scripture… we really get to go in deep [during this project], where we don’t always have that much opportunity in the regular monthly mailings,” she adds.
23 Ways to Support Bible Translation
(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)
The 2019 gift catalog is the first catalog to have 23 separate projects to support. Wycliffe USA chooses each project with care, making sure to include projects from every price range. This year’s projects range from $12 to $100 suggested gift.
Stillman says, “We really go into this with a lot of prayer as we research to find what kind of projects we will share in the gift catalog.”
She adds, “Typically, we communicate about just one project or one area of the world, but with the gift catalog we’re able to feature many more projects that people can take part in.”
When Wycliffe USA chooses these projects, they look for something that will make an impact on helping someone receive God’s Word in their own language. “We were looking for tangible elements of the projects that would really be something people could relate to and wrap their minds around how their gifts would make an impact,” Stillman says.
Every Gift Spreads God’s Word
(Photo courtesy Wycliffe USA)
Each donation given during the Christmas season will help someone around the world receive the Word of God this year. Stillman says, “Every single gift does make a difference.”
Stillman explains that on Giving Tuesday this year, Wycliffe USA featured a project for the Kinga New Testament. This is a Bible translation project happening in Tanzania to complete a translation of the New Testament. The translation will help locals understand God’s Word in their own language, Kinga.
She reports that Wycliffe USA was successful in its goal of raising enough money to fund the creation of over 4,000 New Testaments.
Stillman adds that each of the 23 projects ended up on the list for a reason. “There was some special reason why God wanted them to be in the gift catalog and I think prayer exposure is one of those reasons,” she says.
Do you want to get involved? Check out Wycliffe USA’s gift catalog here to support their Bible translation projects around the world. You can also pray for Wycliffe USA’s work with each of these projects this year. Pray that these projects help people around the world understand God’s Word.