Businessman pins hopes on Afrilingo blueprint

IF language is the main barrier to literacy and reconciliation, a South African businessman says he just might be sitting on the answer.

Thabo Olivier was named Top ICT businessman in Africa last year for his creation Afrilingo, a computer software package that allows people to learn any of South Africa’s 11 languages without having to revert to English as a basis. He is currently in the process of developing Namlingo, which should allow for the same to happen using Namibia’s languages, and which he sees as the blueprint for expanding into the rest of Africa.The programme consists of approximately 3 000 words in each of the incorporated languages, as well as basic generic phrases that allow easy sentence construction.”You need about 850 words to be able to speak a language properly, but from a marketing perspective we went a bit larger,” Olivier, who was in the country a few weeks ago, told The Namibian.He has already, together with ICT company Gijima Ast which invited him to the country, had a meeting with the Ministry of Education to discuss the possibility of having Namlingo introduced into the school curriculum.”I shudder to think what I’d be without my multi-lingualism,” said Olivier, who speaks English, Afrikaans and Sotho.”How many Einsteins have we perhaps overlooked because they couldn’t speak English?” For the sceptics, Olivier points to May 2005 when he, with Afrilingo, was credited for his part in reviving the language of the Nxu Khomani San, a language already declared extinct at the time.The Pan South African Language Board (Pan SALB) became aware of the Khomani San cultural dilemma.At that stage, only seven people remained who could speak the language.CULTURAL REVIVAL The group had been classified as ‘Coloured’ under the apartheid regime, and their language had already started to die out about 300 years ago, Petrus Vaalbooi, the 61-year-old deputy chairperson of the Khoisan language and cultural group, said last year when he was presented with a CD on which his language had been recorded.The group had adopted Afrikaans as their mother tongue.The Nxu Khomani language now forms part of Afrilingo’s content.Pan SALB had acquired independent funding, and sent Olivier into the Kalahari to try and revive the language.He says after days of failed attempts he persuaded a 78-year-old woman to speak into the microphone and record her language for future generations to learn from her.”Technology is generally considered the death of African culture,” Olivier says, “but here we see that technology can actually be used to benefit African culture”.”All you have to do to destroy a culture is to destroy its language,” says Olivier, who adds that human relations can only benefit from people being able to speak one another’s languages.He adds that he became convinced of this fact when looking at how his fluency in the Sotho language has helped him in business.NO PHD THOUGH “And I have but the vocabulary of a four-year-old,” he laughs.Yet, even with an arsenal of 3 000 words, the ability to choose your own vocabulary, and a simple interface, Olivier says the idea is not to get people fluent in their chosen language.”You’re not going to get your PHD with this,” he warns.”But you can learn the basics.Before you leave for a meeting, jot a couple of words down and memorise them.It will make such an impression on people when they realise you’ve taken the time to learn their language,” he says.”Imagine what it can do for tourism if tourists were able to communicate more efficiently with local people.And if we can get the kids, because they pick up languages really easily,” he says.The Namibian product is still in the planning phase, Olivier says, and the dictionary that will be used for Namlingo will be developed with the help of the University of Namibia’s Department of Education.”We’re hoping for roll-out in January”, he says, adding that the plan is to take Namlingo not only into the school curriculum, but also to shops and the nation at large.Then, depending on the success of the product here, the rest of Africa seems a likely follow-up.He is currently in the process of developing Namlingo, which should allow for the same to happen using Namibia’s languages, and which he sees as the blueprint for expanding into the rest of Africa.The programme consists of approximately 3 000 words in each of the incorporated languages, as well as basic generic phrases that allow easy sentence construction.”You need about 850 words to be able to speak a language properly, but from a marketing perspective we went a bit larger,” Olivier, who was in the country a few weeks ago, told The Namibian.He has already, together with ICT company Gijima Ast which invited him to the country, had a meeting with the Ministry of Education to discuss the possibility of having Namlingo introduced into the school curriculum.”I shudder to think what I’d be without my multi-lingualism,” said Olivier, who speaks English, Afrikaans and Sotho.”How many Einsteins have we perhaps overlooked because they couldn’t speak English?” For the sceptics, Olivier points to May 2005 when he, with Afrilingo, was credited for his part in reviving the language of the Nxu Khomani San, a language already declared extinct at the time.The Pan South African Language Board (Pan SALB) became aware of the Khomani San cultural dilemma.At that stage, only seven people remained who could speak the language.CULTURAL REVIVAL The group had been classified as ‘Coloured’ under the apartheid regime, and their language had already started to die out about 300 years ago, Petrus Vaalbooi, the 61-year-old deputy chairperson of the Khoisan language and cultural group, said last year when he was presented with a CD on which his language had been recorded.The group had adopted Afrikaans as their mother tongue.The Nxu Khomani language now forms part of Afrilingo’s content.Pan SALB had acquired independent funding, and sent Olivier into the Kalahari to try and revive the language.He says after days of failed attempts he persuaded a 78-year-old woman to speak into the microphone and record her language for future generations to learn from her.”Technology is generally considered the death of African culture,” Olivier says, “but here we see that technology can actually be used to benefit African culture”.”All you have to do to destroy a culture is to destroy its language,” says Olivier, who adds that human relations can only benefit from people being able to speak one another’s languages.He adds that he became convinced of this fact when looking at how his fluency in the Sotho language has helped him in business.NO PHD THOUGH “And I have but the vocabulary of a four-year-old,” he laughs.Yet, even with an arsenal of 3 000 words, the ability to choose your own vocabulary, and a simple interface, Olivier says the idea is not to get people fluent in their chosen language.”You’re not going to get your PHD with this,” he warns.”But you can learn the basics.Before you leave for a meeting, jot a couple of words down and memorise them.It will make such an impression on people when they realise you’ve taken the time to learn their language,” he says.”Imagine what it can do for tourism if tourists were able to communicate more efficiently with local people.And if we can get the kids, because they pick up languages really easily,” he says.The Namibian product is still in the planning phase, Olivier says, and the dictionary that will be used for Namlingo will be developed with the help of the University of Namibia’s Department of Education.”We’re hoping for roll-out in January”, he says, adding that the plan is to take Namlingo not only into the school curriculum, but also to shops and the nation at large.Then, depending on the success of the product here, the rest of Africa seems a likely follow-up.