{"id":527,"date":"2025-04-21T15:29:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T13:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ariellekitio.com\/?p=527"},"modified":"2025-09-30T16:33:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:33:18","slug":"langues-africaines-condamnees-a-lextinction-numerique-educationintentionelle7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/langues-africaines-condamnees-a-lextinction-numerique-educationintentionelle7\/","title":{"rendered":"African Languages: Doomed to Digital Extinction? #educationintentionelle7"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h2 data-test-id=\"pulse-publishing-h1\"><span class=\"\">An uncertain future for African languages<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">We left\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">the purely utilitarian and \"capitalist\" perspective<\/span><span class=\"\">\u00a0distort our perception of the value of African languages. The sad reality is that, due to a lack of immediate economic opportunities, our languages are relegated to the background.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">This worrying decline is evident even at the grassroots level, where&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">intergenerational transmission is compromised<\/span><span class=\"\">. Our own grandparents are adopting French and English to communicate with us, thus reversing the natural course of intergenerational transmission. Today, we can speak of a linguistic asymmetry that puts us at a disadvantage. Indeed, a European who comes to our villages does not need to make the effort to learn our language, because they know that we have learned theirs. And yet, when we travel, we are required to take language tests.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h2 data-test-id=\"pulse-publishing-h1\"><span class=\"\">Data and Disparities: Inequality in Numbers<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\">The digital age, which was supposed to be one of global connectivity, has created a huge linguistic divide where we see the supremacy of English on the web. A simple comparison between the number of native speakers and the online presence of languages reveals a shocking truth: our African languages are the great forgotten ones of the web.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3937\" src=\"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742729903543-300x225.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742729903543-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742729903543-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742729903543.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">English accounts for&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">nearly 50% of online content<\/span><span class=\"\">, even though it is the native language of only&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">4.9% of the world's population<\/span><span class=\"\">. This can be explained by the following factors, among others:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"\">The technological hegemony of English-speaking countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"\">English is the language of commerce, innovation, and scientific research, which reinforces its digital dominance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"\">The network effect: the first web infrastructures were built in English, and the momentum has continued.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">In contrast, with&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">nearly 10% of the world's population<\/span><span class=\"\">&nbsp;having an African language as their mother tongue, they represent&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">less than 0.1%<\/span><span class=\"\">&nbsp;of online content. We need to be clear about this:&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">&nbsp;today, a language that is not used in the digital world is a language that is at risk of disappearing in the long term. This disparity can be explained by historical factors (colonial heritage), the lack of infrastructure and internet access, the low production of local content, and the lack of institutional recognition. <span class=\"font-[700]\">low production of local content<\/span><span class=\"\">, and little institutional recognition<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">&nbsp;(African governments invest little in promoting local languages in education and technology).<\/span><span class=\"\"> This marginalization is therefore not a coincidence, but reflects, among other things, a relentless cultural and economic reality, which is my angle of attack in this document.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h2 data-test-id=\"pulse-publishing-h1\"><span class=\"\">Economic Argument: The Nerve Center of Warfare<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">In a world where everything has a price, languages have become economic tools. Languages with a strong online presence open doors and create opportunities. Our African languages, however, are relegated to the status of folkloric curiosities.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">Globalization, as it stands, is a steamroller that standardizes and crushes individual characteristics. Indeed, even from a linguistic point of view, globalization promotes the spread of dominant languages, reinforcing their hegemony.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">Although motivations may vary depending on age, social context, and individual goals, statistics from platforms such as Babbel, Duolingo, and UNESCO reports confirm that the top three main motivations for learning languages are economic and migration-related. However, learning African languages is generally linked to identity, which ranks seventh and last on the list of reasons. The fact that identity-related reasons are predominant partly explains the limited scope of African language learning and their perception as \"private\" communication tools, reserved for family or community use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3940\" src=\"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742744429218-300x225.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742744429218-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742744429218-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742744429218.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h2 data-test-id=\"pulse-publishing-h1\"><span class=\"\">African languages and reasons for identity<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">For many people, learning an African language is a way of reconnecting with their roots, history, and culture. It is a way of reaffirming their identity and preserving a precious heritage. This motivation is particularly strong among African diasporas, where there is a strong desire to reconnect with ancestral languages.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">And yes, beyond capitalist reasons, their heritage value is crucial, and that is reason enough.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h3><span class=\"\">Issues: Beyond utility<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\">Identity and heritage:<\/span><span class=\"\">&nbsp;Languages are the repositories of our history, our traditions, and our knowledge. Their disappearance would result in an irreparable loss of our cultural identity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\">Diversity and richness:<\/span><span class=\"\">&nbsp;Linguistic plurality is a source of richness for humanity. Each language conveys a unique worldview. Its disappearance impoverishes our understanding of the human experience.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\">Endogenous development:<\/span><span class=\"\">&nbsp;The use of local languages in education, the media, and institutions promotes better knowledge acquisition and more inclusive development.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h3><span class=\"\">Mandarin: gaining momentum despite internal challenges<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\">English, French, and Mandarin, to name but a few, have each shaped their countries of origin in different ways. English has consolidated the economic and cultural hegemony of English-speaking countries, along with a certain linguistic imperialism. French, despite its overall decline, still has diplomatic influence. Mandarin is expanding rapidly despite internal structural challenges similar to those faced by African countries, notably internal conflicts related to linguistic standardization, the difficulty of internationalization because it is a language, etc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">The positive impacts of Mandarin's reach are well known, and I can cite, among others:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\">Economy &amp; trade<\/span><span class=\"\">: China has imposed Mandarin as the language of business in Asia and Africa thanks to its economic expansion and its New Silk Roads program. In addition, China actively uses Mandarin language learning as a lever of influence through its Confucius Institutes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\">Technological soft power<\/span><span class=\"\">: Unlike English and French, China has built a digital ecosystem entirely in Mandarin (Baidu, Alibaba, WeChat, etc.), which allows it to be less dependent on Western platforms and to control its information flows.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\">Internal social cohesion<\/span><span class=\"\">: By imposing Mandarin as the official language and teaching it throughout the country, China has strengthened its national unity and cultural identity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">Can African languages follow the example of China and Mandarin, while naturally taking into account the challenges of our multipolar world, where new technologies, artificial intelligence, and geopolitics are constantly redefining linguistic power relations?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">Here is a proposal to strengthen the economic argument by drawing a parallel with the African cultural industry:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h3><span class=\"\">The economic paradox of African languages and the cultural industry<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">If economic arguments justify the dominance of foreign languages, how can we explain the phenomenal success of Afrobeats, Nollywood, and coup\u00e9-d\u00e9cal\u00e9 on digital platforms? These industries, driven by local languages and African cultural expressions, have managed to establish themselves in a competitive world dominated by Western giants.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">Take African music, for example: despite the fact that songs are often sung in Yoruba, Lingala, Wolof, or Pidgin, artists such as Burna Boy, Fally Ipupa, and Rema fill stadiums and dominate global charts. Nollywood, with films largely produced in Pidgin and local languages, is now the second largest film industry in the world in terms of volume. These successes prove that cultural production rooted in African languages can not only survive but thrive on an international scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">This success should make us ask ourselves: why are our languages still absent from digital technology and AI, while our music and cinema are conquering the world?&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">The answer lies in promotion and monetization<\/span><span class=\"\">. If the entertainment industry has been able to capitalize on global demand for authentic African content, it is imperative that we adopt the same approach for our languages.&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">Until they are integrated into digital business models, they will remain marginalized, even in our own territories<\/span><span class=\"\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">The lesson to be learned? Influence and accessibility are powerful levers. Isn't it true that if we want our languages to survive and thrive, they must generate value, be taught, be used in digital services, and adapt to new forms of communication, just as African music and cinema have done?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3941\" src=\"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1743601474366-1-300x181.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1743601474366-1-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1743601474366-1-768x463.png 768w, https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1743601474366-1.png 922w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h2 data-test-id=\"pulse-publishing-h1\"><span class=\"\">Artificial intelligence: hope for our languages<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">I personally enjoy reading books in foreign languages (German, Turkish) with just one click, thanks to tools such as Google Lens. This is a free tool from Google available in any Chrome browser. Tools such as Google Lens and Google Translate already allow you to instantly translate texts using your smartphone camera, making languages more accessible to users. &nbsp;We are therefore witnessing a paradigm shift&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">:&nbsp; you don't necessarily need to learn a language to be able to understand it. The focus is shifting from memorizing grammar rules to practical communication.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">Furthermore, technological developments show that&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">the future of digital technology is increasingly based on voice and speech<\/span><span class=\"\">. Today,&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">more than 50% of Google searches are performed verbally<\/span><span class=\"\">, and the global market for voice assistants, estimated at&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">nearly $30 billion in 2024<\/span><span class=\"\">, continues to grow. With the rise of voice assistants (Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant) and voice interfaces, it is becoming crucial to have massive databases in African languages to enable these tools to understand and interact with native speakers.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">Imagine a voice assistant in&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">Yemba<\/span><span class=\"\">, capable of answering a farmer's questions about weather forecasts, giving health advice in&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">Wolof<\/span><span class=\"\">, or helping a shopkeeper manage their stock in&nbsp; <\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">Lingala<\/span><span class=\"\">. For these technologies to see the light of day, we need to&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">feed artificial intelligence with as much data as possible in African languages<\/span><span class=\"\">: texts, recorded conversations, translations, etc.&nbsp; <\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">However, today, less than 0.1% of online content is in African languages<\/span><span class=\"\">, making our languages invisible to artificial intelligence systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h3><span class=\"\">What are the relevant areas of training and research?<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">To avoid this linguistic digital divide, it is essential to invest in&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">research and development, production, and the mass digitization of African languages (see Figure 4)<\/span><span class=\"\">, in order to ensure an active presence for our languages in the global digital ecosystem.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">In the specific field of AI, the following three areas should be considered.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\">NLP (Natural Language Processing)<\/span><span class=\"\">: AI enables us to understand and generate human language. Machine translation tools are improving at a dizzying pace.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"font-[700]\">NLP (Traitement du langage naturel)<\/span><span class=\"\">\u00a0: L&rsquo;IA nous permet de comprendre et de g\u00e9n\u00e9rer du langage humain. Les outils de traduction automatique s&rsquo;am\u00e9liorent \u00e0 une vitesse vertigineuse.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\">Text-to-speech<\/span><span class=\"\">: We can now listen to texts in any language, with increasingly natural-sounding voices.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3942\" src=\"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742746405100-300x225.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742746405100-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742746405100-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1742746405100.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h3><span class=\"\">Promising Initiatives, But Still Insufficient<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">AI4AfricanLanguages (Leveraging AI for African Low-Resource Languages to Enhance Crises Monitoring) is organizing a <\/span><span class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asds.africa\/dassa2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-tracking-control-name=\"article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block\" data-tracking-will-navigate=\"\" data-test-link=\"\">workshop symposium<\/a><\/span><span class=\"\">will address the various stages of text and speech data processing (including collection, preprocessing, and learning) for low-resource sub-Saharan African languages. &nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masakhane.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-tracking-control-name=\"article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block\" data-tracking-will-navigate=\"\" data-test-link=\"\">Masakhane<\/a><\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">&nbsp;:&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"\">The Masakhane project <\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">Masakhane<\/span><span class=\"\"> project, a pan-African community of AI researchers, is working on the development of machine translation models for African languages, including Swahili, Hausa, and Yoruba.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lelapa.ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-tracking-control-name=\"article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block\" data-tracking-will-navigate=\"\" data-test-link=\"\">Lelapa AI<\/a><\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">&nbsp;:&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"\">The startup&nbsp; <\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">Lelapa AI<\/span><span class=\"\">, founded by African researchers, aims to create inclusive language models that take into account the specificities of African languages, with an emphasis on diversity and social impact.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vulamobile.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-tracking-control-name=\"article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block\" data-tracking-will-navigate=\"\" data-test-link=\"\">Vula Mobile<\/a><\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">&nbsp;:&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"\">The<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">Vula Mobile<\/span><span class=\"\"> app, developed in South Africa, uses AI-based technologies to facilitate access to medical care in rural areas via several African languages. It enables patients and healthcare professionals to communicate more effectively, thereby reducing language barriers in the medical field.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ntealan.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-tracking-control-name=\"article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block\" data-tracking-will-navigate=\"\" data-test-link=\"\">NTeALan<\/a><\/span><span class=\"\">&nbsp;(New Technologies for African Languages). This is a community of young Africans skilled in languages and AI who are working to strengthen the presence of African languages in the digital world.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"font-[700]\">Google and Mozilla&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"\">have also recognized the importance of African languages. Google has integrated translations into local languages in Google Translate, and Mozilla has launched voice collection initiatives to improve speech recognition in Swahili and Luganda.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><span class=\"\">Similarly, companies such as Orange are collaborating with OpenAI and Meta to integrate African regional languages into AI models, initially targeting Wolof and Pulaar.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">Mais il faut aller plus loin, plus vite.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<h2 data-test-id=\"pulse-publishing-h1\"><span class=\"\">A Call to Action: The Urgency of Preservation<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">Integrating our languages into AI and NLP is not an option, it is a matter of survival. Languages are not just a utilitarian tool, but in order for them to be useful, they must first be practiced and preserved. Without digital and economic opportunities, African languages are clearly under threat.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"\">We must promote ambitious language policies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"\">We need to digitize our resources, develop technological tools, and create content. By leveraging these technologies, it is clearly possible to develop translation tools, instant communication tools, educational applications, and digital resources in African languages, thereby increasing their usefulness in modern contexts. Knowing that technological tools facilitate their acquisition and use will also encourage non-speakers to learn our languages.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">The integration of African languages into AI and NLP technologies is not only feasible, but essential for their preservation and promotion. This will redefine their place in our contemporary societies, giving them greater economic and cultural relevance.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-main__content\" data-test-id=\"publishing-text-block\">\n<p><span class=\"\">Are we going to let our languages die out amid indifference, or are we going to revive them thanks to the power of digital technology? The choice is ours.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Un avenir incertain pour les langues africaines Nous avons laiss\u00e9\u00a0le prisme purement utilitaire et \u00ab capitaliste \u00bb\u00a0d\u00e9former notre perception de la valeur des langues africaines. La triste r\u00e9alit\u00e9 est que, faute de d\u00e9bouch\u00e9s \u00e9conomiques imm\u00e9diats, nos langues sont rel\u00e9gu\u00e9es au second plan. Le d\u00e9clin inqui\u00e9tant se manifeste jusqu\u2019\u00e0 la base o\u00f9\u00a0la transmission interg\u00e9n\u00e9rationnelle est compromise. [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pedagogie-petite-enfance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielle.douglas-wafo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}