Translation Commons is a social-civil society partner of the International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019 (IYIL2019) and invites volunteers to their joint projects.
According to UNESCO around 40% of the estimated 6,700 languages spoken around the world are in danger of disappearing and the fact that most of these are indigenous languages puts the cultures and knowledge systems to which they belong at risk.
To support efforts to protect all indigenous languages Translation Commons has partnered with the IYIL2019 initiative on two major projects:
1. Translation Commons is mobilizing over 1,000 universities worldwide to create awareness around their local languages throughout the month of October, 2019.
2. Translation Commons has created a technology committee tasked to create guidelines on the digitization of indigenous language assets.
Both projects are poised to provide rich volunteer possibilities for anyone with a passion for languages and cultural heritage.
Jeanette Stewart, co-founder and board member of Translation Commons, said: “We would like to mobilize the entire language industry and ask for volunteers – both individuals and companies – who would like to help us and work together with us on this important initiative.”
Cornelia Sittel, Director of Localization at Salesforce Commerce Cloud and board member of Translation Commons mentioned how aligned the two organizations are: “We are proud to assist IYIL2019 in this invaluable initiative to save the world’s linguistic heritage. Translation Commons’ motto is “No language and no linguist ever left behind.” This partnership offers us a great opportunity to put our values into practice.“
To get involved and find out the latest news, visit the Translation Commons website and register your interest to volunteer with them to support IYIL2019.
About Translation Commons
Translation Commons is a nonprofit US Public Charity powered by Translators. It’s a volunteer-based and self-managed online community aiming to bridge all gaps in the language industry.
Translation Commons facilitates cross-functional and cross-disciplinary collaboration among the diverse sectors within the language industry and instigates transparency, trust and free knowledge and encourages an integrated system view of our industry by all stakeholders.
The mission is to offer free access to tools and all other available resources, to facilitate community-driven projects and to share educational and language assets.
Translation Commons is targeted to the needs for professional enrichment of language service professionals and students, translators and interpreters and all under-resourced language groups. Translation Commons responds to the needs of people using endangered and minority languages all over the globe, giving them the chance to participate in the opportunities created by technologies enabling scientific, cultural and economic pursuits.
