This came half way round the world from fred in Goa :-)

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: CI News <cinews@unesco.org>
>Date: 07-Nov-2006 14:27
>Subject: CI News: "UNESCO supports Caribbean indigenous and endangered
>languages portal"
>
>UNESCO and University of West Indies Language Unit launch the first author
>initiative website on Caribbean Indigenous and Endangered Languages (CIEL).
>The website show cases and promotes the preservation of over 20 indigenous
>languages in the region.
>
>Caribbean indigenous languages and their cultures were produced over
>thousands of years. In the 500 years since the arrival of Europeans, most
>of these languages and cultures have either disappeared or are seriously
>endangered.
>
>According to Hubert Devonish, Professor of Languages at the University of
>the West Indies, "these languages must be preserved if we are to safeguard
>a significant part of the heritage of mankind. We would not just be
>preserving
>things past but rather, we would be maintaining bodies of knowledge,
>technology and beliefs which can be useful to mankind in the present and
>the future.
>
>Hubert Devonish insists on and ensures that his team employs scientific
>approaches in the collection of data relating to these indigenous languages,
>making the portal truly authoritative.
>
>UNESCO is now exploring Phase 2 of the project along the lines of:
>
>a) additional language data collection;
>
>b) language documentation through the production and digital storage of
>the material collected;
>
>c) development of webpages within the CIEL website especially designed for
>use by school children and members of the communities involved;
>
>d) production of books of stories and cultural information bilingually, in
>indigenous languages and English, supported by audio and video materials.

See portal: http://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/ciel/pages/index.htm
Nearby mar 07 nov 2006 20:00:22 AST