[lg policy] University team translates Firefox into Guarani in Paraguay

[Harold Schiffman]

University team translates Firefox into Indian language in Paraguay
Published February 24, 2016
EFE <http://www.efe.com/>

A team of linguists and software engineers from Asuncion National
University has translated Mozilla's Firefox browser into Guarani, marking
the first time a native Latin American language is included in this type of
technology.

The project required two years of work and the translation of 45,000 words
to complete the test version of Firefox in Guarani, named Aguaratata, which
any user will be able to download and try.

The final version of Aguaratata will be ready in six weeks, the team said.

Guarani, the official language in Paraguay along with Spanish, is also
spoken in some areas of southern Brazil and northern Argentina.

The translated version of Firefox will be made available to the
approximately 8 million Guarani-speaking people, most of them in Paraguay.

Some 57 percent of Paraguay's nearly 7 million people, according to the
census, speak only Guarani.

The project was launched by Asuncion National University, a public
institution that signed an agreement with Mozilla, and was supported by the
Paraguayan government through the Language Policy Office and the Guarani
Language Academy, an entity created in 2012.

The project's major challenge has been "to match the word in Guarani to
faithfully convey technical terms in English used by default on the
platform," Aguaratata project coordinator Alcides Javier Torres Gutt told
EFE.

Volunteers from all participating institutions, ranging from software
engineers to linguists, poured their talents and efforts into completing
the project without cost to the government, with the goal of making the
Internet "a public and accessible place for everyone," including people who
speak only Guarani, Torres Gutt said.

The project's successful completion will be followed by the development of
a mobile Aguaratata app. EFE

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2016/02/24/university-team-translates-firefox-into-indian-language-in-paraguay/

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