INDUSTRY INSIGHTS & LANGUAGE TECH INNOVATIONS
1. Press release | Upcoming News
Theoretical Approaches to Translation and Interpreting Webinar Series
The Association for Translation Studies in Africa (ATSA) is excited to announce a new webinar series for postgraduate students and early career researchers across Africa. The series, titled “Theoretical Approaches to Translation and Interpreting”, will run from November 2024 renowned scholars. Each webinar will explore diverse theoretical concepts in translation and interpreting, providing valuable insights for budding researchers. Should you have any questions, please contact: Dr Xany Jansen Van Vuuren at jansenvanvuurenx@ufs.ac.za. to October 2025.This series offers a unique opportunity to engage with internationally
2. Press release | News
DGACM launches the United Nations Speech Bank for interpreters
The United Nations launched the Speech Bank. This online tool, created by the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) in collaboration with the Office of Information and Communications Technology, is now fully operational. It contains speeches in six official languages covering diverse UN topics. This e-learning resource, created by DGACM and OICT, aids language students, candidates, teachers, and interpreters in practicing interpretation skills, preparing for UN exams, and improving language proficiency. The initial 150 speech collection will continuously expand with transcripts and search filters.
Bolingo Consult’s Ami Series Approved as Supplementary Material for Schools in Ghana
The Ami Series, authored by Ami D. Christelle Zami and published by Bolingo Consult, has received endorsement from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) as supplementary material for Basic 1-3 levels in Ghanaian schools. The Ami Series stands out for its innovative approach, blending captivating storytelling with vital lessons on environmental conservation and sustainability. NaCCA’s endorsement underscores the educational value of the Ami Series. The book is accessible to a diverse audience of learners in seven languages, including English, French, Arabic, Ewe, Twi, Swahili, and Zulu.
For inquiries or to purchase
the Ami Series books:
Email: marketing@bolingoconsult.com
Phone: +233 24 654 2915
Website: www.bolingoconsult.
com
Sultan releases Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language and launches Encyclopedia
His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, proudly announces the completion of the “Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language”, marking a monumental achievement for the Arab and Islamic communities. This significant work, consisting of 127 volumes, preserves the richness of the Arabic language, its history, and its cultural heritage. He emphasized the importance of language as a pillar of national pride and a bridge to the future for scholars and future generations.
DeepL Unveils Groundbreaking AI Glossary Generator for Business Translations
DeepL has launched a revolutionary AI-powered glossary generator, marking an industry first for business translations. This new feature allows companies to create custom translation glossaries with just a single file upload, streamlining the process for businesses with specialized terminology. The AI glossary generator builds on DeepL’s 2020 Glossary feature, which enables companies to personalize translations with technical terms, product names, and branded language.
SPEECH TECHNOLOGY
Text-to-speech (TTS) models are normally trained by having a voice actor record sentences in a studio. Sunbird AI has been able to train Luganda TTS in a new way, using crowdsourced data from Mozilla Common Voice. This is the only existing TTS system for any Ugandan language and is freely and openly available.
An NLP and speech technology for Ugandan Languages
Sunbird AI is building Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies to provide language resources for social good. They have built open local language datasets, translation and speech systems with partners, including the Makerere University AI lab.
SUNBIRD TRANSLATE
The Sunbird Translate system can automatically take text from any of the five local languages; Acholi, Ateso, Luganda, Lugbara and Runyankole and translate it to and from English with state- of-the-art accuracy. They are now working on turning these resources into social impact. Visit translate.sunbird.ai and try it out yourself. As with all Sunbird AI projects, the data, code and models are freely and openly available for others to extend and use. In particular, data collection is an important part of developing language technology, and the Sunbird AI Language Translation (SALT) dataset is a multi- way parallel corpus of 25,000 sentences translated across six languages. Their technical
report has the details of
collecting text data and
training translation models
Nigeria Unveils First Multilingual Large Language Model
The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced the launch of the country’s first multilingual large language model (LLM), as revealed by Communications Minister Bosun Tijani on X. This advanced AI system is designed to understand, process, and generate text in multiple languages, marking a significant milestone in Nigeria’s technological advancements. According to Tijani, the launch of the AI tool was facilitated by a collaboration involving Nigerian AI company, Awarritech; global technology company DataDotOrg; the National Information Technology Development Agency; and the National Centre for AI and Robotics(NCAIR). The announcement was made during a four-day AI workshop in Abuja, which brought together over 120 AI specialists to foster AI growth within the region. Minister Tijani highlighted that the LLM will be trained in five low-resource languages and accented English. This training aims to enhance language representation in existing datasets, thereby improving the development of artificial intelligence solutions. The LLM focuses on enhancing AI capabilities in these underrepresented languages and accented English, aiming to improve the diversity and accuracy of language data used in AI applications.
3. Press release | News
Translating for Environmental Advocacy: Insights from Experts
The Association of Language Companies in Africa (ALCA) hosted its inaugural Annual Conference on the first anniversary of its founding. Under the theme “Forging Robust and Thriving Language Services Companies in Africa,” this event aimed to advance the industry through collaboration and strategic discussions. The conference provided a platform to explore industry trends, opportunities, challenges, strategic partnerships, innovative technologies, talent development, market expansion, quality assurance, regulations, financial resilience, and social impact within the African language services sector.
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