mother tongue - The African Mirror

Feb

28

2024

New African LanguageTech app to bridge linguistic divides, cultivates inclusivity and empowers content creation

WHEN Chido Dzinotyiwei moved to South Africa from Zimbabwe as a child, language became both an obstacle and an opportunity for change. Her primary concern as an adult was children struggling with their mother tongue in new environments, facing challenges in pronouncing names, and finding it difficult to connect with the languages spoken in their surroundings. Fast forward to today, the entrepreneur and Mandela-Rhodes Scholar, now based in Johannesburg, is on a mission with her business, Vambo Academy and project, Vambo AI, to address the vital language needs of African communities. “Having moved to another country in my early schooling…

Jun

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Tanzanian students who struggle with English feel bullied – a major barrier to learning

EDUCATION

IN many postcolonial contexts, early learning is conducted, and assessed, in a language that is unfamiliar to learners. About 40% of the world’s population cannot access schooling in a language that they understand and that is regularly used in their communities. This figure may be as high as 80% in sub-Saharan Africa. Language policies in some countries preserve a role for the mother tongue or other familiar local languages in the first years of schooling. This is the case for example in Kenya, Botswana and Ethiopia. In Tanzania, the national language – Kiswahili – is the language of instruction in…

May

12

2023

By The African Mirror

Last known speaker fights to preserve South African indigenous language

NEWS

WHEN she was a girl in South Africa's Northern Cape, Katrina Esau stopped speaking her mother tongue, N|uu, after being mocked by other people and told it was an "ugly language". Now at age 90, she is the last known speaker of N|uu, one of a group of indigenous languages in South Africa that have been all but stamped out by the impacts of colonialism and apartheid. "We became ashamed when we were young girls, and we stopped speaking the language," Esau told Reuters. Instead, she spoke Afrikaans, the language promoted by South Africa's white minority rulers. Later, as an…

May

12

2023

By The African Mirror

Last known speaker fights to preserve SA indigenous language

NEWS

WHEN she was a girl in South Africa's Northern Cape, Katrina Esau stopped speaking her mother tongue, N|uu, after being mocked by other people and told it was an "ugly language". Now at age 90, she is the last known speaker of N|uu, one of a group of indigenous languages in South Africa that have been all but stamped out by the impacts of colonialism and apartheid. "We became ashamed when we were young girls, and we stopped speaking the language," Esau told Reuters. Instead, she spoke Afrikaans, the language promoted by South Africa's white minority rulers. Later, as an…

Jan

16

2023

By The African Mirror

Meet the phone that ‘speaks’ 50 African languages

NEWS

ANGE KUMASI, BIRD STORY AGENCY WHEN David Kouamé decided to improve his literacy in his mother tongue, he went to the city centre in Abidjan not to register for tutoring services, but to buy a mobile phone. Kouamé had heard about a new, locally developed and assembled smartphone with a voice control system that can understand 50 African languages. "It is important to speak our African languages and teach them to our children. When I heard about this phone, I knew I had to get it. I'm very happy to have this superphone as I can speak my mother tongue…