My Good friend Guido
> In Ghana, the lingua franca is Twi. The argument you > make applies here too. But the other languages will want the same status > and soon, you get to have many different languages. It does not matter how many languages demand for the status. If there are people to translate the software so be it. Lets not fabricate a predefined framework in which to use IT, I would prefer that we let it gel with the societies and eventually if the efforts cant be sustained they wither out in favour of the sustainable ones. Its all about evolution. > > Language is to me important for two purposes: One is to communicate, the > other is to store knowledge. Even though the article calls for tools to > adapt to people and not the other way round, it fails to admit that people > do adapt to technology. G, but that is obvious. In anything, there is always a half way point. Technology is on one side of the rope and the masses are on the opposite side. Do you want the masses to move all the way across the rope to the Technology side? I dont think that is feasible. However translation is one of the efforts that will enable Technology and the Massess meet at the centre of the rope. Have you ever bothered to find out the cost of learning a foreign language vis a vis Twi ? > > Language is not a tool. It is a technology. While it is important to > develop the capacity of the local languages, the only way to be truly > competitive globally is to compete on the global front (not hide locallly, > which is the case when you turn into an introvert) As we compete globally lets not forget that your kin are comfortable in the environs of Navrongo (Northern Ghana) with the village as their world. You still have to address their problems too especially if you have the nose for a buck :) > I pose this question:- > > If Newton's Laws of Motion and Einstein's Theory of Relativity were > discovered at the same time (one in Luganda, and the other in Twi) how > long would it take for the information to get to the other side? I wouldnt like to speculate on this one. However if the Baganda society had been that advanced to have one of their own become a Newton, then certainly the circumstances would have been very favourable for technology transfer and exchange within and without their boundaries. So, I believe it would have taken as long as it took for Ghana to learn about Newton or even shorter. Wire _______________________________________________ LUG mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
