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Internet Chat rooms, Forums and Young people The Internet was claimed last week, by one of the worlds leading linguists to be a saviour of the Welsh language. Professor David Crystal of Bangor University said that the Welsh language (along with Breton) is now considered to be 'cool' to use by young people, because of its presence on the internet. Professor Crystal said: « It doesn't matter how much activism you engage in on behalf of a language if you don't attract the teenagers, the parents of the next generation of children. »And what turns teenagers on more than the internet these days? If you can get a language out there, the youngsters are much more likely to think it's cool." Professor Crystal's comments follow in the wake of the Bwrdd Yr Iaith Gymraeg/Welsh Language Board strategy document for IT and the Welsh language. The Strategy aims to provide a framework for Welsh language Information Technology (IT) work in the future and hopes to lead the way in innovative IT development.

Table of Contents Publication Information Repatriated Bones, Unrepatriated Spirits Richard Littlebear Introduction: Some Basics of Indigenous Language Revitalization Jon Reyhner Obstacles and Opportunities for Language Revitalization 1. Some Rare and Radical Ideas for Keeping Indigenous Languages Alive Richard Littlebear 2. Running the Gauntlet of an Indigenous Language Program Steve Greymorning Language Revitalization Efforts and Approaches 3. Sm’algyax Language Renewal: Prospects and Options Daniel S. Rubin 4. Reversing Language Shift: Can Kwak’wala Be RevivedStan J. Anonby 5. Using TPR-Storytelling to Develop Fluency and Literacy in Native American LanguagesGina P. Cantoni 6. Documenting and Maintaining Native American Languages for the 21st Century: The Indiana University Model Douglas R. Parks, Julia Kushner, Wallace Hooper, Francis Flavin, Delilah Yellow Bird, Selena Ditmar * Native Language for Every Subject: The Cree Language of Instruction Project Barbara Burnaby, Marguerite MacKenzie, Luci Bobbish Salt The Role of Writing in Language Revitalization 7. The Place of Writing in Preserving an Oral Language Ruth Bennett, Pam Mattz, Silish Jackson, Harold Campbell 8. Indigenous Language Codification: Cultural Effects Brian Bielenberg Using Technology in Language Revitalization 9. Enhancing Language Material Availability Using Computers Mizuki Miyashita and Laura A. Moll 10. The New Mass Media and the Shaping of Amazigh Identity Amar Almasude 11. Self-Publishing Indigenous Language Materials Robert N. St. Clair, John Busch, B. Joanne Webb

We will release more product lines in other African languages soon. We believe in what we do, and we think that African children should be able to learn their native languages, with as much fun as they will learn the English language. What we intend is to make learning native language as much fun as possible. Basically, all our materials are interactive, and we are confident that this approach will work to great effect.” The Executive Director of the African Languages Technology Initiative, Dr Tunde Adegbola also expresses the hope that the product line "is coming at a time when wide debate over the importance of our indigenous languages is being argued.” While this approach to learning African languages may seem relatively new, Otitoloju expresses that she is confident that these product lines will translate into increased applications from these groups.” CONCEPT Blazing Ideas Blazing Ideas Limited was established for the advancement and dissemination of African Indigenous Languages with particular emphasis on Nigerian Languages through several interactive media and materials.The company intends to design, develop, publish and distribute globally, innovative electronic language learning solutions on handheld devices, memory media cards, and via internet downloads. As an international quality African-language publishing house and a market and business research firm, Blazing Ideas has license to publish, in electronic format, reference titles, including monolingual dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and various other education and trade publications. Blazing Ideas is founded by Dr. Lolade Otitoloju. She is a graduate of College of Medicine, University of Ibadan (M.B.B.S) with a Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Infectious Diseases and Masters in Public Health from the University of London (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine).

Local site uses unique tool to bring Arabic script into internet era By Alexander Besant Special to The Daily Star Saturday, June 14, 2008 BEIRUT: During the past few years email, chat rooms, and text messaging have forced Arabic speakers to rely on transliterations due to these technologies' use of Roman script.As Arabic keyboards remain bewildering and unpopular among average users, transliteration has become a common method of written communication, particularly on the net.This reliance on transliteration has spawned various Web sites which convert Latin-script Arabic transliterations into Arabic script. Now Arab-speaking internet users have a new tool at their disposal to do just that - but better.Nagi Salloum, co-founder of the popular Cineklik Web site which aggregates movie listings all over Lebanon onto one site, has teamed up with a new partner to make the internet more accessible for arabophones.Their creation - Yoolki - is a Web site which is proving to be the fastest tool on the net for converting transliterations into Arabic script.Though there are many Roman to Arabic transliteration sites on the net, Yoolki is the only one which transliterates in real-time without the often irritating pause after typing. It is also the only site which allows users to work offline in case the internet connection is lost.Yoolki uses a dual screen which allows users to constantly see their Roman script typing side-by-side with the Arabic script. The user is able to go back and make corrections to the original words without having to delete the Arabic script.Yoolki is also the first transliteration tool which allows users to incorpo