2007年VOA标准英语-Microsoft to Tackle 'Digital Divide' in Africa

By Jordan Davis
Dakar
31 January 2007

U.S. software giant Microsoft this week unveiled the latest version of its operating system, Windows Vista¹. Soon, African users may be able to boot up their computers using their native tongue because African language versions of the program are being developed. For VOA, Jordan Davis reports from Dakar.

Windows Vista

Many experts have tried figure out solutions to address the lack of technology available to the poor in the developing world, a phenomenon known as the "digital divide." Initiatives like the "$100 laptop" have recently been rolled out with much fanfare².

But some say the "digital divide" will not disappear if computers do not operate in the same language as their users.

Microsoft's Windows operating system runs a vast majority the world's PCs. The company has rolled out versions of the software in more than 80 world languages, including Afrikaans and Kiswahili. Microsoft's Thomas Hansen says eight more African languages are on the way, including Hausa, Kinyarwanda, Wolof and Yoruba.

"What this is about is making sure that we can provide access to our technology to a much broader group of individuals who may not even have electricity: But may just have it in the future, either in the schools they attend, at the universities they attend, or in their homes," he said. "And when that moment comes, whatever barriers there may be, we want to remove those barriers."

In Senegal, where a Wolof version is set to be released in the coming months, the company turned to linguists³ at Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University.

Professor Mame Thierno Cisse says even something as simple as translating Windows' "start" button, was the object of much debate among his colleagues.

He says, a number of technical terms never existed in Wolof and the team of professors often had to try to create new words that could be easily understood by those without technical expertise⁴.

But even if computers are widely available and Windows is in every language on earth, there remain more fundamental barriers to reducing the digital divide.

For instance, the language on a computer screen will not matter much if a user cannot read. In a number of sub-Saharan countries, more than half the population may be illiterate⁵.

And even where local languages may be "spoken," not everyone may be comfortable reading or writing it.

In Senegal, while Wolof is used by an estimated 80 percent of the country, schooling⁶ is still in the official language, French. Most Senegalese web sites are in that language, as well.

But for Mame Thierno Cisse, having the world's most popular operating system in Wolof might encourage the spread of the language. He says, language is a vehicle for culture. And long as that language is not written, it risks disappearing.

In a Dakar cyber café, Assane Thiam, a sharply dressed young man in his twenties is frantically⁷ typing messages to a friend he waves "Hi" to through a webcam.

"We generally write in French, because, it sometimes is hard to translate it into Wolof," he said.

But asked whether using Windows in Wolof would be interesting to him, he nods vigorously.

Thiam says he runs a cyber café in his village, where just 30 percent of the inhabitants actually use the computers. Maybe, using Wolof might change that, he says.

1 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

2 fanfare   

n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布

参考例句：

• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

3 linguists   

n.通晓数国语言的人( linguist的名词复数 )；语言学家

参考例句：

• The linguists went to study tribal languages in the field. 语言学家们去实地研究部落语言了。 来自辞典例句
• The linguists' main interest has been to analyze and describe languages. 语言学家的主要兴趣一直在于分析并描述语言。 来自辞典例句

4 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

5 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

6 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

7 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。