At 2003-10-27 19:37:37 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > I do not believe many individuals (other than primary school children) are > literate in their native language but are completely illiterate in Latin > script. This does not mean "being able to read or write the English > language"; rather, this simply means knowing the Latin script alphabet.
Mark, The number of people in India who can read and write only their native language, but have no usable knowledge of Latin script, is much larger than the tiny number who are familiar with both. I'm told that this is true for many native speakers of Chinese and Arabic as well. The use of local scripts is much more than just a "preference" for the numerous localisation efforts in India which focus on making computing more accessible to poor farmers and people in villages. (I agree that it's currently nearly impossible to use computers if one isn't familiar with the Latin script, of course.) -- ams
