Bolivians Translate Facebook into Aymara
Bolivians Translate Facebook into Aymara
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Some Aymara speakers don't speak Spanish, meaning Facebook has so far been inaccessible to them. | Photo: AFP
Published 17 September 2015
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A group of volunteers is working on translating a version of Facebook into the Indigenous language of Aymara.
A group of volunteers in Bolivia has spent more than a year translating Facebook into the Indigenous Aymara language as part of efforts to preserve their native tongue.
“Aymara is alive. It does not need to be revitalized. It needs to be strengthened and that is exactly what we are doing,” online community organizer Rubén Hilari told El Pais.
While more than 7,000 languages are spoken around the world, Facebook is only available in 75 languages, with another 40 currently in translation.
Today, some 80 percent of the internet remains dominated by just 10 languages, according to World Bank data. The Aymara Indigenous language, which is one of 36 native languages recognized by the Bolivian state, is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the country along with Quechua and Guarani.
More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Bolivians-Translate-Facebook-into-Aymara--20150917-0032.html
