This is happened sometimes in July of this year, but only landed on my desktop now. And I have to say that could not contain my excitement to post it!
How many languages does Google speak? Oh wait, to be precise, how many African languages does Google speak? I admit, I don’t know the answer. But I am excited that Google can now speak Chechewa, an African language spoken in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and even can be found in neighboring Congo-DRC, Angola, South Africa, and Namibia.
Apparently, “Google homepages for Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are now running live in Chichewa.” Thanks to Google Africa, and a team of Malawians volunteers, led by a Lilongwe-based software developer Edmond Kachale, who worked tireless for six Months translating Google products to Chichewa.
Across Africa internet, mobile phones, and social media, such as facebook, are increasingly becoming valuable tools for communication, development, and citizenry engagement. On a continent where about everything is urban-biased against the rural population who do not speak Africa’s official languages (English, Portuguese and French), having an internet homepage in an African language is huge in terms of bridging the urban-rural divide. Think of a farmer deep in rural Malawi-inland who can now use his/her cell-phone to get information on market prices using the Chichewa Google homepage. Think of a village community development group in Mozambique who can download information about new government legislation as well as major social issues confronting the country, such as HIV/AIDS, poverty and so forth.
One word: Kudos!
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