Andrew Morris wrote:
Some of you may remember a series of articles I wrote on minority and threatened indigenous languages last year, in partnership with the non-profit Translation Commons.
Well, the good news is that they are the latest organisation to turn to us for assistance with pro bono translation.
Essentially the main thrust of their work revolves around the digitalisation of such languages – giving them onscreen form and thus helping them survive and even thrive in a digital age. This is a vital strand in the struggle against their disappearance and the resulting impoverishment of global culture.
The texts they are going to be working with us on involve both translation and editing/proofreading, and from English into Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish.
They range from introductions to the project, to mentoring guides for working with communities.
More details soon – there are quite a few words!
What's particularly interesting about this latest project is that the work not only makes a valuable contribution but is also itself about languages. So we get to learn as we translate, and to deal with texts that enrich us and enrich the world at the same time.
I hope you'll be as excited as I am about this latest endeavour. If you're not already part of our growing database of volunteers, please make sure you drop me a line at
[email protected] 
But if it's about translating, proofreading, editing into Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish, how is this going to help those indigenous languages? Is it to create awareness? We need more info please. I would have thought it would be translating, editing and proofreading into those indigenous languages, not the other way round unless I am missing something.
. No these guides are produced for the community of people who themselves are digitalising local languages, rather than the Indigenous Peoples themselves. The latter group will in fact be the beneficiaries of the digitalisation process, but our work in this case consists of supporting those with the skills to do the work of creating scripts whereby Indigenous Peoples will at last be able to use their l
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