[Oe List ...] Help for endangered languages

[LAURELCG@aol.com]

Forwarded by Jann McGuire

Dear  author -
Thank you for being a supporter of writing and knowledge. I'm  sending
you the following news release (see below) because I wanted you to  know
about the vitally important work that needs to be done around the  world
to save endangered languages. When an indigenous language is lost,  the
heart of a culture is destroyed. We are all impoverished when  this
happens. Trafford is making a pledge to help indigenous groups who  will
be working to document their language and teach it to youth -- and  to
bring attention to this situation.

Most people don't know about  this noble race against time. You can help
by forwarding this email on to  others, to spread awareness about
endangered languages. Let's not let ours be  the generation that stood
by idly while so much of our global cultural  heritage and knowledge is
perilously close to being lost  forever.

Thank you for spreading the word by forwarding this email to  your
friends.

Sincerely,

Bruce Batchelor
President &  Publisher
Trafford Publishing

------------------
Publisher pledges $1.6  million for endangered languages
Global effort needed to halt loss of  priceless cultural knowledge
for immediate release -- Sept. 1, 2005
Visit  http://www.trafford.com/pledge to read this press release  online

(Victoria, Canada and Oxford, UK and Gaborone, Botswana) Over  6,500
indigenous languages around the world are severely endangered. With  the
last remaining native speakers of many dialects dying each year,  one
publishing company is pledging over $1.6 million to help in the  global
race to document and teach these languages to youth.

The  donation by Trafford Publishing is being announced today to over
800  delegates from over 80 countries gathering at WITFOR 2005, a
UNESCO- and  European Union-sponsored conference in Botswana, convened
to discuss ways to  give access to technology to those in the developing
world.

Have them  write books, urges Trafford Publishing, an innovative company
which  revolutionized the publishing industry when it created a process
known as  'on-demand publishing' ten years ago. Now over 3,000
independent authors  publish their books each year with the company
whose main offices are in  Victoria, Canada and Oxford, England. Books
are printed 'on-demand' one at a  time to fill orders from bookstores
and individuals, with most orders placed  on the Internet.

Trafford is pledging to underwrite approximately  $1,600,000 in
publishing costs over the next ten years. The programme will  make
available primers for school children, dictionaries and local  stories
-- one book will be published in each of 650 endangered  languages.

"When a native language dies out, we've lost forever our  chance to
learn cultural truths," says Trafford CEO Bruce Batchelor.  "Philosophy,
lifestyle, science, healing -- all the nuances are tied up in  the
grammar, vocabulary and way of speaking. It is a tragedy if a  language
that encapsulates tens of thousands of years of a group's culture  is
lost forever. It's like standing by watching the destruction of  the
ancient library at Alexandria, without trying to put out the  fire."

Trafford has already published primers in 10 Canadian  aboriginal
endangered languages, and is sponsoring urgent work to document  an
endangered language in Namibia.

Batchelor hopes the magnitude of  Trafford's pledge will bring attention
to the situation and encourage  donations in equipment from hi-tech
manufacturers.

"Some communities  really need a few key tools to document their
language and then plug into the  best revival practices. An iBook, iPod,
microphone, digital camera, solar  battery charger, a week's on-site
technical training -- those would be part  of the most basic linguistic
rescue kit," says Batchelor, listing the  sponsorship possibilities.

Trafford's gift was prompted by a request by  Bothas Marinda of Namibia
to have a book published in his community's  language. Peter Brand of
First Peoples' Cultural Foundation, a Canadian  non-profit which will be
helping Marinda, passed along the idea to Batchelor  who didn't want to
limit this to only a few first nations or  tribes.

"It is ironic that most of these languages have been almost wiped  out
because of 'modern' culture," notes Batchelor. "Now we can  use
innovations in publishing and technology to enable and empower  locals
to document and then teach their languages."

Brand and FPCF  Executive Director Tracey Herbert are making the pledge
announcement on  Trafford's behalf at the conference during a
presentation about  FirstVoices.com, pioneering language revitalization
technology developed by  the foundation. Aboriginal groups from 5
continents are using or preparing to  use web-based dictionaries that
hyperlink to pictures and the sound of each  word being pronounced.
Brand's team can convert standard PC keyboards for  typing aboriginal
characters which can be printed on most laser or inkjet  printers in the
international Unicode font  standard.

--

Trafford Publishing (www.trafford.com) is a one of  the world's most
prolific publishers, releasing over 3,000 new titles in  2005. It was
the first company in the world to offer 'on-demand publishing'  services
for business, agencies and individuals. Trafford's services are  now
being used by independent authors from over 105 countries. Its  books
are sold through major distributors and retailers around the  world,
with printing done in Canada, USA and UK. Trafford uses 'green'  energy
from solar and wind to power its own print shop, which uses  recycled
paper. Some titles are also available as  eBooks.

FirstVoices.com is a set of web-based languages archiving and  teaching
resources, developed by First Peoples' Cultural Foundation --  a
Canadian-based Indigenous non-profit society, based in British
Columbia.  Recent exposure for FirstVoices.com at international
conferences in Canada,  Japan and now Botswana are raising the profile
of the unique language tools,  originally developed for the 198 First
Nations in BC. The invitation to  showcase FirstVoices.com in Africa
acknowledges the successful development  and implementation of a
made-in-Canada technology solution developed by  Indigenous people, for
Indigenous people.

The Government of the  Republic of Botswana, in collaboration with the
International Federation for  Information Processing (IFIP), will host
the second World Information  Technology Forum (WITFOR) in Gaborone,
Botswana from August 31 to September  2, 2005. The meeting will address
issues critical to developing countries,  such as the application of
information/communications technology (ICT) in  fighting HIV/Aids,
poverty, access to education, environment, as well as  social, ethical
and legal consequences of IT. It will also showcase  leading-edge ICT
solutions for economic development, as well as best practice  projects
from around the world. The conference takes place at the  Gaborone
International Conference Centre (GICC) in Botswana.  www.witfor.org

Based on retail pricing applicable to the various currency  zones,
Trafford's pledge is worth approximately $1,656,850 Canadian dollars  or
$1,266,850 US or 1,202,500 euro or 876,850 UK pounds.

Indigenous  language teams can access publishing services by contacting
Peter Brand at  peter at fpcf.ca. The First People's Cultural Foundation is
developing criteria  to determine which groups will benefit from
Trafford's donation of 65  publishing packages per year for 10 years.

For more information or to  arrange interviews, contact:

* Annette Humphries, Trafford Publishing,  annette at trafford.com
* Peter Brand, peter at fpcf.ca
(Please note that Peter  is working in Africa until
mid-September, so may not reply immediately to  emails.)