Mheshimiwa Waziri wa Habari, Utamaduni na Michezo wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, George Mkuchika ametoa tamko Bungeni lenye faraja kwa wanazuoni na  wadau wa lugha ya Kiswahili akiungwa mkono na Mheshimiwa Spika wa Bunge.
 
Kwa ujumla mheshimiwa Waziri na Spika wa Bunge kwa pamoja wameonyesha umuhimu wa Serikali na asasi zake kudumisha utamaduni wa kutumia lugha ya Kiswahili katika  fomu na shughuli zote rasmi pamoja na  mawasiliano yote ya Kiserikali.
 
Wakati hayo yakiendelea, ni muhimu Wanazuoni  na  wadau wote wa lugha ya Kiswahili tuungane na Serikali katika kuondokana na dhana la kuwekeza kwenye maendeleo ya lugha za kigeni.
 
Asasi za maendeleo ya lugha ya Kiswahili ziongeze uhamasishaji wa matumizi ya lugha ya Kiswahili katika maeneo yote muhimu yaliyotajwa na mheshimiwa waziri  na media zote ziachane na kabisa na matumizi ya 'KISWANGEREZA' katika utendaji wao wa kila siku.
 
Wenu kwa staha;
Ray Ephraim Ndewingiya Njau
Mdau na mtetezi wa Kiswahili
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Shule ya Bloomington High huko nchini Marekani imeongeza rasmi lugha ya Kiswahili katika lugha  kuu tano za kigeni. Suala hili limenifanya nijiulize sababu hasa ya kufanya hivi na hatimaye nimejiaminisha kuwa, lengo la kufanya hivi huenda ni kutaka vijana na watu wa Taifa la Marekani kuelewa lugha mbalimbali za dunia kadiri wanavyoweza ili waweze kuwasiliana na watu wa mataifa mbalimbali kwa urahisi zaidi. Pengine laweza kuwepo lengo lililojificha la kuwataka raia wake wajifunze lugha mbalimbali, lakini ukweli haupingiki ya kuwa haiwezekani kumzuia mtu kujifunza lugha nyingine ikiwa amekusudia, nasi cha msingi  tunachoweza kukifanya ni kujifunza lugha zao ili kuweza kuwasiliana na watu wengi zaidi katika shughuli mbalimbali.

Faida za kujifunza lugha za kigeni ni nyingi. Baadhi ya faida hizo ni pamoja na:

• Lugha inashikilia nafasi ya kwanza kati ya mojawapo ya vyanzo vya hali ya juu kabisa vya mawasiliano.
• Kujifunza lugha ngeni ni kujua jinsi ya kuwasiliana na watu wa jamii husika ili kukidhi mahitaji kadhaa.
• Lugha husaidia watu kupata ajira katika maeneo kadha wa kadha kama ualimu, ukalimani, biashara nk.
• Kuijua lugha ngeni husaidia kung'amua siri za wazungumzaji, aghalabu, siri hizi zaweza kuwa mbaya. Hivyo, mtu anapoifahamu lugha ya watu wengine inakuwa vigumu kumsema kwa siri. Umuhimu huu wa kuijua siri ya mwenzio ndiyo unaohitajika katika ulimwengu huu uliogubikwa na matukio ya uhalifu na ugaidi wa kimataifa hivyo ikiwa kuna watu wana lengo baya na nchi fulani, basi inakuwa rahisi sana kuweza kunyaka maongezi na kufahamu mipango ya kihalifu na hivyo kukabiliana nayo.

Kifuatacho ni kipande cha utambulisho wa mafunzo ya lugha ya Kiswahili katika jimbo la Indiana, Marekani.

Swahili language and culture for Indiana high schools

June 7 – July 2, 2010

The main goal of the STARTALK Swahili student program is to introduce Swahili to Bloomington High schools, initially, as a nonresidential program. In the future we would like to offer it as a residential program and make it available to all Indiana high schools. The program will integrate the 5Cs of the National Foreign language Standards with a focus on the C of Communication and the C of Cultures. This will be a four week program with each week focusing on a particular cultural theme such as greetings, extended family, traditional clothes, food, and story telling. The first week will focus on greetings, introductions and talking about family members. The second week, students will learn about different kinds of food, ingredients required, and how to shop and bargain for them at the market. Week three will introduce students to the art of story telling using children’s stories and folktales. The last week of the four week program will concentrate on clothing with a focus on different uses of the traditional cloth, the kanga, and its sayings for indirect communication. This intensive program will be the equivalent of one semester of Swahili and students will get foreign language credits.

812-855-3323 • aomar@indiana.edu • www.indiana.edu/~afrilang

Zoezi la sensa ya kuhesabu idadi ya watu wanaoishi nchini Marekani limeweka historia kwa kuitambua na kuiongeza lugha ya Kiswahili katika orodha ya moja ya lugha za Kimataifa zilizopewa kipaumbele na kuchapishwa rasmi kama mwongozo wa dodoso ili kufanikisha zoezi hili.

Katika video iliyopo kwenye tovuti hiyo ambayo inatoa maelekezo kuhusu dodoso la sensa hiyo, mzungumzaji amekosea kidogo mahala fulani anaposikika akisema, '...masaba' badala ya 'saba' na mahala pengine ametamka, '...masita' badala ya 'sita' lakini kwa ujumla amesoma vizuri na katika lafudhi mojawapo ya Kibantu na inaeleweka. Bofya picha hapo kushoto (au bofya hapa) kutizama video hii. Ikiwa unataka nakala ya mwongozo huo wa sensa, unaweza kuipakua katika tovuti hiyo kwa lugha ya Kiswahili 2010.census.gov/2010census/language/swahili

Tujifunze Kiswahili sanifu.

(1)    Tunasema “Mahakama hii”
(2)    Tunasema “Mamlaka haya” (Uwezo/madaraka)  “mamlaka hii” (chombo/asasi)
(3)    Tunasema “Wakala huyu” (mtu anayefanya kazi ya uwakala) “wakala hii” (chombo/asasi inayofanya kazi ya uwakala)
(4)    Tunasema “Wawakilishi” (watu wanaowakilisha) “wawasilishaji” (watu wanaowasilisha)
(5)    Neno “Maombi” lina umoja na wingi:     “Ombi” (umoja) “Maombi” (wingi)
(6)    Neno “Saa” halina wingi.  “Masaa” si matumizi sanifu.
(7)    Neno “Wimbo” ni sanifu.  “Mwimbo” si sanifu.

Imeandikwa na:
R. Njau
Mdau na mtetezi wa Lugha ya Kiswahili.
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
 

Hawa wageni wa Kiswahili walinishangaza sana majuzi nilipokuwa naperuzi picha katika tovuti ya kuhifadhia picha ya Flickr. Basi aliyezibebesha picha zenye maneno yenye tafsiri ya lugha kadha wa kadha, mojawapo ilikuwa ni ile iliyopewa jina Swahili inasomeka, 'VITA NI JUU KAMA UNATAKA IT' (pichani kushoto). 'asa mi n'kajiuliza, ala, huyu alitaka kusemaje? na maana yake ipi? Katika kudadisi ndipo nikasoma alichoandika kwa lugha ya Kiingereza, 'WAR IS OVER IF YOU WANT IT'. Nikagundua hapa imetumika tafsiri ya neno moja baada ya jingine ama kwa kutumia kamusi au mashine ya "google translate" ambapo:

WAR = VITA
IS = NI
OVER = JUU
IF = KAMA
YOU WANT = UNATAKA

Ndo matokeo yake wakapata hii kanyaboya. Hawakufahamu kuwa kuwa neno moja laweza kuwa na maana zaidi ya moja au matumizi ya neno yaweza yasilete au yapoteze kabisa maana kulingana na ujumbe unaokusudiwa kufikishwa. Kumbe walipaswa kuandika, 'VITA IMEKWISHA...'

Sasa basi ndiyo hata nikajikumbusha, ya kuwa, ukitaka kujifunza lugha ngeni, shurti uulize wenyeji, la umekwama, akheri ukaingia darasani kabisaa, usijeleta shari katika lugha ya watu ukaonwa kituko buree.

If you know anybody in the US asking where they can learn Kiswahili and other African languages, please spread the word that they can learn it through the Language Resource Center.

The Languages & Culture Studies Department and the Africana Studies Department are working together to offer courses in Swahili and Yoruba for motivated and self-directed students.

Learn to speak Swahili
Swahili is one of the major languages spoken in Africa. It is the lingua franca of eastern and central Africa where over 50 million people speak it. It is widely used in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. A little over 1 million people speak it as their first language. (Source: lang.nalrc.wisc.edu/resources/press/brochures/swahili.pdf)

SPRING 2010
Elementary Foreign Language: Swahili Language & Culture - AFRS 2050 / LACS 1201, TR 2:00 - 3:15 pm

Learn to speak Yoruba
Yoruba is the first language of approximately 30 million West Africans, and is spoken by populations in Southwestern Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and Sierra Leone. It is also one of the prominent languages & cultures of the diaspora, and greatly impacts the social, cultural, and religious lives of millions of people in countries outside of Africa, such as Brazil, Cuba, Trinadad, Haiti, and more. (Source: lang.nalrc.wisc.edu/resources/press/brochures/yoruba.pdf)

SPRING 2010
Elementary Foreign Language: Yoruba Language & Culture I - AFRS 2050 / LACS 1201 ; MW 3:30 - 4:45 pm
Elementary Foreign Language: Yoruba Language & Culture II - AFRS 2050 / LACS 1202 ; TR 3:30 - 4:45 pm

For more information contact:
Dr. Akin Ogundiran, Chair, Africana Studies, email:  Ogundiran@uncc.edu
or
Dr. Heather McCullough, Director, Language Resource Center, email: hamccull@uncc.edu

The Ghana Institute of Languages in Kumasi is to introduce Swahili, Portuguese and Chinese languages into its study programmes, Mr C.K. Angkosaala, the acting Director, has announced.
     
This, he said, would help to promote effective integration and socio-economic development.
     
Mr Angkosaala was addressing the eighth matriculation ceremony for 474 students of the Institute, who have been admitted to study French, German, Spanish, Arabic, English and bilingual secretary-ship. Mr Angkosaala advised the students to avoid procrastination, planned and organised their activities in a manner that would enable them to pursue their goals successfully. He also told them to distance themselves from questionable lifestyles saying: “I want you to be builders and not wreckers of the society.” The acting Director asked the students to serve as “ambassadors of peace” and to help promote social harmony and understanding.
     
Mr Edwin Dery, Head of the Institute, said they have planned to collaborate with the University of Cape Coast (UCC), to run degree programmes. They have acquired a 33-acre stretch of land at Sawua in the Bosomtwe District to build hostels to accommodate both students and staff.

Nana Kyei Baffour II, Asemhene, advised Ghanaians not to only develop interest in the learning of international languages but the local ones as well.

Info source: http://ghanabusinessnews.com

Software giant Microsoft is working with Baraza la Kiswahili Tanzania (Bakita) and the University of Dar es Salaam to install a Kiswahili version of its operating system for personal computers, Windows 7. The project to process the Kiswahili interface in Windows 7 will also bring in professionals from Kenya and Uganda.

Microsoft has developed a language interface pack that will serve more than 12 million Kiswahili language speakers in East, Central and Southern Africa.

Windows 7 will also be available in nine other African languages to increase usage, fight software piracy, increase use of local languages online and drive computer penetration beyond English and French.
...by 2011, Windows 7 will be available in languages such as Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Afrikaans, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, kiSwahili and Amharic.

Kiswahili is spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit large stretches of the Indian Ocean coastline from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique, including the Comoros Islands.

It is the only language of African origin among the official languages of the African Union. About 35 per cent of the Kiswahili vocabulary derives from Arabic, gained through more than 12 centuries of contact with Arabic-speaking traders. Kiswahili has also incorporated Farsi, German, Portuguese, English and French into its vocabulary over the past five centuries.

Written by Mike Mande, this story is published on AllAfrica.com, read it in full length at http://allafrica.com/stories/200912071133.html

It is always good to surf the internet and come across international websites named after Kiswahili word(s), even better, if written in Kiswahili. 

Just found out a sleek, neat, informative and interactive website by the name kunena.com. Though not written in Kiswahili, the site description reads as follows:

Kunena, translated from Swahili meaning "to speak," arose out of a fork of the former Fireboard forum with a new team and some of the previous developers, including several Joomla core developers. Kunena 1.5.7 is the most recent stable Joomla 1.5 native version of Kunena. Only a few months after the launch of Kunena, 1.5.4 marked a major milestone in the development of the next generation forum component for Joomla.

Learn more about kunena.com at http://www.kunena.com