Peruvians to enjoy Windows in Quechua (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/16/quechua_windows/

Peruvians to enjoy Windows in Quechua

By Lester Haines (lester.haines at theregister.co.uk)
Published Tuesday 16th November 2004 11:26 GMT

The estimated three million Peruvian speakers of Quechua will soon be
enjoying Microsoft products in their native tongue, according to a
report (in Spanish) on Terra.com
(http://www.terra.com.mx/tecnologia/articulo/146890/).

MS Peru and the Peruvian Ministry of Education have inked a deal to
develop Windows products in the ancient language of the Incas. The
programmes will be distributed free to teachers and students as part of
a nation-wide scheme to promote the language, and will also be
installed in internet cafes. Peru's education minister, Javier Sota
Nadal, said: "We're going to promote the use of the Quechua language,
as well as contribute to its spread as a part of Peruvian culture...
Quechua speakers have the right to learn their own language."

MS Peru supremo Lieneke Schol added: "This programme offers the
opportunity to give access to technology in native tongues with the end
result that more people can work with computers in their own language
and realise their full potential."

Pre-conquest Quechua had no written form (messages were relayed using a
system of knotted string, the exact nature of which remains uncertain),
but was later transcribed by the Spanish into the Latin alphabet. This
will greatly facilitate the efforts of linguists at the Universidad
Nacional San Antonio in Cuzco and Universidad Nacional San Cristobal de
Huamanga in Ayachucho who are assisting in the translation process. The
nuts-and-bolts work will be carried out using MS's "Language Interface
Pack Kit" and is expected to yield results by May 2005. ®