ktravula – a travelogue!

How are Yoruba speakers using Twitter?

KT: Same as everyone else. Code switching with English or whatever language soothes their need at the moment. This is fine. I think it’s important to mention that our intention at the start of the Tweet Yoruba project was not to turn every Yoruba speaker on twitter to monolingual Yoruba tweeters. No, it was to encourage use and improve the current attitude to indigenous language use anywhere. Yoruba just happens to be the language I’m most familiar with. I am interested in (and always encouraged by) indigenous language use anywhere/everywhere, even along with other international languages, until the attitude that one of them is inferior on the basis of the number of speakers is discredited.

Excerpt from my interview with (Egbunike Nwachukwu 0f) Global Voices. Read it here.

How are Yoruba speakers using Twitter? was published on October 3rd, 2013, with the tags , , , , , , , under the Uncategorized category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Introducing Àsà from Genii Games

PRESS RELEASE

Asa_logo05 September, 2013. Lagos, Nigeria. Once upon a time, when the phrase ‘Once Upon A Time’ meant story time — stories of discovery, values, morals, discipline, love, happiness, etiquette …a way of life.

 I wish I could say Once Upon A Time in this technology-driven generation, where globalization is subconsciously eroding our once treasured rich indigenous cultures. I wish this phrase still had the same tenacity to hold children spellbound, their eyes glued to the storyteller or the storybook.

Day after day, as the digital age rolls by, I keep wondering if technology will pay for this or somehow, if it would find a way to bring back story time. Or has it?

What if it has in the new Àsà!

Àsà (meaning culture in Yoruba) is a brand that includes a collection of mobile applications that run on Smartphones (iPhones, Samsung S Series etc) and tablets (iPads, Samsung Galaxy Tabs, BlackBerry Playbook etc). These apps come enhanced with features as games, colourful illustrations, voice, sound and animation, all packaged within cultural contexts to appeal to kids aged 2-12 years.

TMQ_iconOnce upon this time, children would sit again around the digital story teller to hear the same old folktales once told and retold by our forefathers. Or, in Àsà’s Language Series, follow the cultural evangelists on their journeys to get kids acquainted with our rich languages.

Àsà’s audience has gone beyond the 12 year olds — parents are in love with this digital storyteller, young adults don’t mind being told stories or taught languages in a new exciting, colourful way. Who would?

Here are some Àsà testimonies from parents:
“Thanks. Yes I got the Yoruba101 app for my son and daughter. They absolutely love it”. – Nigeria Customer

“My daughter is doing well! She loves playing the word games & is forever nodding her head to the background music of the app” – UK Customer

“My daughter and I have just read ‘The Lazy Chicken’ app; nice story”!

“Wow! This is one of the best things to happen to my iPad… Heard of this story (Oluronbi) since my childhood but it’s the first time I’ll be listening to the story for real in more than 30 yrs. I so love this, Thank you!” – US Customer

And that’s not all…

OLURONBI_iconÀsà’s Oluronbi  iPad app has been given an impressive review by a foremost book review site, Kirkus Reviews.
“The illustrations are cleanly drawn, depicting Nigerian figures in brightly patterned dress and village settings. They are brightened up both by a chorus that sings a song to the Iroko Spirit in one scene but can be heard in the background throughout and by a particularly lively, accented narrator”.

–          Excerpts, Kirkus

So far, Àsà has in its growing collection of apps the following Android, BlackBerry and iOS apps:

·         Yoruba101

An interactive Yoruba language teaching app, Yoruba101 involves a virtual recreation of a classroom complete with a cultural teacher (Oluko Àsà) who takes the kids through topics like Alphabets, Words and Sentence formations. It also includes games to help the kids test their acquired knowledge. It features animations, colourful illustrations, voice, sound and text.

Download Yoruba101 now to your iPAD; iPHONE; ANDROID phones/ tablets; BLACKBERRY Z10/Playbook

·         Igbo101

IGBO_01An interactive Igbo language teaching app, Igbo101 involves a virtual recreation of a classroom complete with a cultural teacher (Onye nkuzi Àsà) who takes the kids through topics like Alphabets, Words and Sentence formations. It also includes games to help the kids test their acquired knowledge. Other features include animations, colourful illustrations, voice, sound and text.

Download Igbo101 now to your iPAD; iPHONE; ANDROID phones/ tablets

·         aHausa

aHausa is an interactive Hausa language teaching app. Modules taught include Alphabets, Numbers, Body Parts, Animals and Greetings. It uses a combination of sounds, voice, text, colorful graphics and animation to get the user acquainted with the language.

Download aHausa now to your ANDROID phones/ tablets, BLACKBERRY Z10

·         Oluronbi

Oluronbi is a popular West-African folktale about a pretty young lady that has everything going for her except a child. With her sadness about to be broken, thanks to the kind-hearted Iroko Spirit, Oluronbi’s desperation and attitude are put to test. This is a story of trust and attitude with cultural and moral lessons for its audience. The app has features as different reading modes, games, interactive elements for cultural tips and the popular folksong etc.

Download Oluronbi now to your iPAD; iPHONE; ANDROID phones/ tablets; BLACKBERRY Z10/Playbook

·         The Lazy Chicken

The lazy chicken is a story that teaches kids against laziness, chronicling the events that led to why Chickens are used for sacrificial offerings in some African cultures. Its features include different reading modes, games and interactive cultural tips.

Download The Lazy Chicken now to your iPAD; iPHONE; ANDROID phones/ tablets; BLACKBERRY Z10/Playbook

·        The Monkeys’ Quest

TMQ_01This folk-tale takes readers through a story involving monkeys and how they came about their look. It includes folk-songs, games amongst other features.

Download The Monkeys’ Quest now to your iPAD; iPHONE; ANDROID phones/ tablets; BLACKBERRY Z10/Playbook

More of Àsà apps can be found on http://www.geniigames.com/apps.html

Going forward, Àsà’s development efforts are geared towards releasing more culturally oriented apps across board to cater for our diverse and rich cultures.

With the new Àsà, brought to you by Genii Games (http://www.geniigames.com), we can confidently say that our age long morals, native tongues, etiquette, fables and other treasured cultural elements will not die.

About Genii Games

Genii Games is a proudly Nigerian company and the parent entity of the Àsà brand. It is a company with a vision to preserve and promote our Rich African Culture using technology. Its mission is to stimulate the interest of kids aged 2-12 years in subjects relating to our indigenous African culture.

Its Àsà brand has been recognized as a tool for the future Nigeria by “The Future Awards”.
Website: http://www.geniigames.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/genii_games

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/geniigames

Introducing Àsà from Genii Games was published on September 9th, 2013, with the tags , , , under the News, technology category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Google ni Yoruba!

I came across this encouraging (though thoroughly belated) news a few days ago, on twitter and elsewhere, from a friend familiar with my work, advocacy, and interest in facilitating the use of African languages, particularly Yoruba, in today’s world, particularly in Information Technology. Google is opening up its famous Google Translate machine to include a number of populous African languages.

This is encouraging for a number of reasons:

Google-Translate-Banner1First, I have spent the last two years petitioning Twitter to include Yoruba as one of the languages in which the platform is being currently translated, without much luck. It has however led to an annual Tweet Yoruba Day – a day set aside in March of every year to document trends in the use of the language on electronic platforms, advocate/encourage continuous use, and celebrate the rich depths that the language brings to the world. Having Google take this step without a major public petitioning is heartening.

Secondly, the Google machine is a worldwide platform with reaches into the farthest corners of the earth. Having Yoruba join the league of other world languages, famous and non-famous, in which thoughts and opinions can be transmitted through translation is something to be proud of. I am proud of it. I am also glad that I am here to witness, and contribute to its development. (More on this later).

And third, the sample translations given on the page created by Google for freelance translators towards this project shows that – though very far from perfect, Google has put a lot of efforts into the initial work. That is admirable. Long before the project was announced, word-to-word translations for a number of Yoruba words were already sourced and documented. They will not suffice as far as the final translation engine is concerned, but this is an encouraging start. As the current state of the machine shows, the syntax is far from perfect. I’ll rate all the translations “poor”.

The next step now is to build a larger corpus that includes more than just word-to-word associations, but phrases, proverbs, aphorisms, colloquialisms, songs, and a number of other culturally relevant communicative utterances that make Yoruba a uniquely rich African language. Then, run them through different tense and aspect variations present in the language, and have translators/linguists tweak it until it is as close to perfect as possible. This will take a lot of time, a lot of effort, plenty texts from different levels of complexity in Yoruba speech (from poems to novels), and a number of dedicated people. However, this start is an important step.

I applaud, and will keep my eyes – and fingers – on it.

Google ni Yoruba! was published on August 29th, 2013, with the tags , , , , , , under the Uncategorized category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.

Tweet Yoruba Day 2013

On March 1, 2013, twitter users who speak Yoruba will tweet all day in their mother tongue.

This practice began last year as a means to pressure Twitter to include Yoruba in the list of languages into which the platform is being translated. There was a partial success in form of a response by a twitter translation desk official who assured that while the message has been heard, it would take a little while more to include the language, for logistic reasons.

images

We have had a second contact with Twitter official @lenazun, this time to help with the question about what accepted dialect of Yoruba is generally used in official Yoruba writings and translation. (The answer is the North-West, Oyo Dialect of Yoruba). Besides that, nothing else.

The Tweet Yoruba Day on March 1, 2013* is to continue the annual tradition, but with less emphasis on pressuring Twitter but on celebrating the beauty and importance of the mother tongue usage in the age of modernity. It might never happen anytime soon that the only means of communication online would be any of these local languages with a limited number of speakers (Yoruba has over 30 million), but as long as these means of communication exist, there would always be new ways of transmitting culture and a distinct worldview.

The hashtags to use, like last year, would be #tweetYoruba and #twitterYoruba. For those still interested in reminding twitter of our intention to have the platform translated into Yoruba, copy your tweets to @twitter and @translator.

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*February 21 is The International Mother Tongue Day

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Here is the official poster. Feel free to share on your social networks:

TweetYorub2013 (1)

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speakafrica

 

Tweeters with the most creative tweets during the event will receive “I Can Speak Yoruba” T-shirts and tote bags courtesy of @SpeakAfricaApps, a supporter of the event, and Recharge Cards courtesy of Think Oyo (@ThinkOyo), another supporter. The project is brought to you with help from Molara Wood, writer (@MolaraWood), Alakowe Yoruba (@AlakoweYoruba), The Yoruba Cultural Insittute (@yorubaculture), and Kevin “Kayode” Barry (@KayodeOyinbo).

 

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Kàá ní Yorùbá

Tweet Yoruba Day 2013 was published on February 21st, 2013, with the tags , , under the Linguistics category. There are currently 15 comments on this article so far.

Ojo Siso Yoruba Ni Twitter 2013

Lọjó Kinni, Osù Kẹta (Ẹrẹnà) 2013, àwọn olùlo twitter tó gbọ Yoruba yóò sọọ láti àárọ dálẹ.

A bẹrẹ ètò yìí lódún tó kọjá láti fá Twitter lẹsẹ kí wọn ba le fi ọn ba le fi èdè Yorùbá sí ọkan lára àwọn èdè àgbáyé  tí a ti lè lo gbàgede náà. A se aseyọrí díẹ nígbà tí Twitter dá wa lóhùn padà láti ẹnu òsìsẹ ògbifọ wọn kan tí ó sọ wípé wọn ti gbọ ohùn wa, sùgbọn yó se díẹ kí wọn tó fi ọn tó fi Yorùbá kún-un nítorí àwọn ètò díẹ tí wọn ní láti se kí ó tó le seése.
imagesA tún ti bá wọn sọrọ lẹẹkan síi nígbà tí òsìsẹ Twitter miran @lenazun wá láti bèèrè irú èka Yorùbá tí a máa n lò láti se ògbifọ àti láti kọ ìwé ìjọba ní Yorùbá. (Ìdáhùn rẹ ni Yorùbá Àríwá-Ìwọ Oòrùn, tí a n sọ ní Òyó). Léyìn èyí, nkò gbọ ohun mìràn.

ỌJọ Sísọ Yorùbá Ní Twitter ní March 1, 2003* jẹ láti tẹsíwájú èyí tí a bẹrẹ lódún tó kọjá, sùgbọn nísìnyí láti fi ẹwà èdè abínibí wa hàn nínú ayé ẹrọ ayélujára tí a n gbé nísìnyí. Ó lè má sẹlẹ rárá wipe ọjọ kan yóò wà tí èdè tí gbogbo aráyé yóò máa sọ lórí ayélujárá yóò jẹ èdè abínibí nìkan, torípé àwọn tó n sọ wón kò pọ púpọ (Yoruba tíẹ sí ní ju ọgbọn million lọ), sùgbọn bí ọnà láti sọ èdè yìí bá ti se wà, bẹẹ náà ni a ó se ní àìmọye ojúlówó ọnà láti fi àsà àti ìse wa hàn fún gbogbo àgbáyé

Bí a se seé lésìí, àwọn hashtags láti lò lọdún yìí ni #tweetYoruba àti #twitterYoruba. Fún àwọn tí wón bá tún fẹ fa Twitter lẹsẹ wípé kí wọn jẹ kí á se ògbifọ gbàgede náà sí Yorùbá,  kí wón sèdà tweeti wọn sí @twitter àti @translator.

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*February 21 ni Ọjọ Tí a Yà Sọtọ Lágbàáyé Fún Sísọ Nípa Èdè Abínibí

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Èyí ni atọka ètò náà. Jọwọ fi han gbogbo àwọn ènìyàn rẹ lórí èrọ ayélujára

TweetYorub2013 (1)

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speakafrica

Àwọn olùlo twitter tí ó bá kọ àwọn oun tó mọgbọn wá jùlọ ní ọjọ yìí yóò gba asọ “Mo Le Sọ Yorùbá” àti báàgì ìfàlọwọ láti ọwọ @SpeakAfricaApps tí ó n se ìgbọwọ ètò yìí, ati kirediti lati owo  Think Oyo (@ThinkOyo). Ètò yìí tún wá pẹlú àjọsepọ àwọn wọnyìí náà: Molara Wood, ònkọwé (@MolaraWood), Alakowe Yorùbá (@AlakoweYoruba), The Yoruba Cultural Insittute (@yorubaculture), àti Kevin “Kayode” Barry (@KayodeOyinbo).

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Read page in English

Ojo Siso Yoruba Ni Twitter 2013 was published on February 21st, 2013, with the tags , , , , under the Fun, Linguistics category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.