More Than 1 Billion Speakers of Endangered
Languages Get Access to Technology
Microsoft Local Language Program announces new initiatives to provide
technology access, helping to grow local economies.
REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- It is estimated
that every 14 days a language dies. This means that during the Winter
Olympic Games, currently happening in Vancouver, B.C., one more of the
more than 7,000 languages spoken on Earth -- many of them not yet
recorded -- will disappear, taking with it centuries of knowledge about
history, culture and the natural environment. Half of those languages
are expected to disappear by the end of this century.
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As UNESCO celebrates International Mother Language Day 2010,
Microsoft Corp. is renewing its commitment to help reach more people
worldwide with the benefits of technology, while assisting in the
attempts to preserve local languages and promoting cultural identities
through the Microsoft Local Language Program (LLP). In support of the
Microsoft Unlimited Potential mission, the LLP is part of a worldwide
initiative dedicated to providing individuals with access to desktop
computer software in their native language. Beyond providing fully
localized versions of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office in nearly
40 languages, Microsoft currently supports 95 languages through the LLP.
More than 1 billion people speak the languages that are supported by
this program.
"Linguistic diversity is under threat. This loss not only erodes
individual communities and cultures, but more broadly, the very makeup
of our societies," said Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO.
"Linguistic diversity promotes mutual understanding and dialogue. Access
to learning in local languages is of utmost importance for reducing
social exclusion. What is encouraging is that a growing number of
partners are acknowledging the importance of languages and committing to
safeguard them. It is crucial that we bolster these efforts because
each language is a treasure."
Today, Microsoft is announcing three solutions that empower local
language communities to discover, share and develop IT terminology in
their native language. First, they are announcing the current list of
languages that will be supported for the new releases of Windows, Office
and, for the first time, Visual Studio:
-- Fifty-nine new Language Interface Packs (LIPs) for both Windows 7 and
Office 2010
-- Four new LIP additions for Visual Studio 2010
These new offerings are in addition to the 178 downloads available in
67 different languages for which there are already LIPs and CLIPs for
earlier versions of Windows, Office and Visual Studio.
"Allowing for people to use and build software in their native
language helps emerging markets build a stronger work force, and
ultimately better prepares employees to help grow their local
economies," said Lauren Woodman, senior director of Microsoft's
Government and Education Engagement Programs. "This new CLIP technology
will also help people bridge the language gap and, for the first time,
use technology in a meaningful way."
The second piece of today's news is the Caption Language Interface
Packs. The current standard for the Local Language Program, a Language
Interface Pack has 400,000 terms and installs over a base language,
transforming most of the functionality to the new language. With the
CLIP, a tool tip is displayed that shows the term in the specified
language, but allows for the base language (which can be a LIP or a
fully localized version) to show through, allowing for a smooth
transition between languages and greater computer literacy in multiple
languages. Microsoft has begun to share the Microsoft Terminology
Collection as a whole, making it available through collaborative efforts
with governments, sharing of multilingual terminology databases and
language preservation projects. This glossary, developed over the past
five years of LLP partnerships with governments, universities and local
language experts, will allow for the uniformity of meaning of
technological terms, independent of who is writing the software.
"Two dozen language hot spots, which contain the greatest diversity
and most endangered languages, have now been identified globally.
Microsoft's Local Language Program -- which provides an interface for
nearly 100 emerging languages, including Maori, Welsh and Inuktitut --
seeds future innovation," said Professor K. David Harrison, a linguist
at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, and director of research for the
Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. "A Torres Straits'
Islander in Australia told me: 'Our language is standing still; we need
to make it relevant to today's society. We need to create new words,
because right now we can't say 'computer.'"
Allowing access to technology for indigenous speakers of smaller
languages not only helps to preserve the language, it allows the rest of
the world to benefit from the innovation and creativity of the
community. In addition, it allows indigenous speakers to have a voice in
the world community and gives them access to the economic benefits of
the Technology Age. In essence, Microsoft's Local Language Program helps
emerging markets build a stronger work force and ultimately better
prepares employees to help grow local economies.
More information on the LLP is available at http://www.microsoft.com/LLP.
About Microsoft Local Language Program
The Microsoft Local Language Program is a global initiative that
fosters the development and proliferation of regional language groups,
enabling them to preserve and promote their language and culture while
benefiting from continuing IT advancements. Through this collaboration
with local governments to offer citizens the ability to customize
leading, value-based Microsoft software applications with local language
capabilities, people around the world are able to work with PCs -- some
for the first time -- in their native languages.
About Microsoft Unlimited Potential
Microsoft, through its Unlimited Potential vision, is committed to
making technology more affordable, relevant and accessible for the 5
billion people around the world who do not yet enjoy its benefits. The
company aims to do so by helping to transform education and foster a
culture of innovation, and through these means enable better jobs and
opportunities. By working with governments, intergovernmental
organizations, nongovernmental organizations and industry partners,
Microsoft hopes to reach its first major milestone -- to reach the next 1
billion people who are not yet realizing the benefits of technology --
by 2015.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that
help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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Source: Microsoft Corp.
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