1. Language Usage & Localization in East Africa Manuela Noske Seattle Area Localization Meet-Up May 15, 2014

2. Problem Statement Is there a need for IT products & services in Standard Swahili in East Africa?

3. Background Microsoft localizes its Windows OS, the Office suite and various apps into Standard Swahili One product offering for different markets (Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda) Uptake appears to be low Recent language assessment conducted to get better understanding of language use in countries

4. Some Basic Facts about Swahili Speakers: 15 million L1 speakers (17th edition of Ethnologue)Ethnologue 150 million or more L2 speakers Status: National language of Tanzania, Kenya & Uganda Official language in Tanzania & Kenya (with 2010 constitution) Curated by two National Language Councils: Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa (BAKITA) in TanzaniaBAKITA Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (CHAKITA) in KenyaCHAKITA

5. Some Basic Facts about Swahili

6. History of Development of Swahili ~50 dialects spoken originally along the coastline of Kenya & Tanzania; dialects continue to exist Kiunguja dialect of Zanzibar designated as standard at 1928 Inter-Territorial Language Conference Inter-Territorial Language Committee founded in 1930, based in Dar Es Salaam Development of Standard Swahili pursued jointly by British East African territories between World Wars Since independencies, curation of language is considered a national matter

7. Language Assessment Tanzania Standard Swahili taught in school and understood widely, but Standard considered “antiquated” and not used as taught Status of Standard Swahili is high; people refer to it reverentially Educated elite & upper middle-class in Tanzania speak Swahili in all contexts Lower middle-class and working masses speak either their local vernacular or Swahili in a multi- lingual context Tanzania is a Swahili-speaking country

8. Language Assessment Tanzania Newspapers, TV & radio are exclusively in Swahili Written advertisements are in Swahili with a few exceptions for advertisements by large multinational companies Mobile phone service operates exclusively in Swahili Communication with Tanzanians in English can be challenging

9. Language Assessment Tanzania Translation: Only Tigo offers free Facebook in Swahili

10. Language Assessment Tanzania

11. Language Assessment Tanzania: First Conclusions Status of Standard Swahili in Tanzania is high Tanzanians associate “educatedness” with it Tanzanians are proficient in “Standard” Swahili, but unclear how much it really resonates with them There is a need for IT products & services in Standard Swahili in Tanzania, but with a modern(ized) lexicon/terminology

12. Language Assessment Kenya “Standard” Swahili only spoken along the Kenyan coast Educated elite & upper middle-class in Kenya speak English in variety of contexts Lower middle-class & working masses up-country speak either local vernacular or pidgin version of Swahili when in multilingual context Urban poor, urban youth and anybody who wants to be cool speaks “Sheng” Sheng is a Swahili-based jargon and is part of Kenya’s pop culture Sheng changes rapidly; youth have positive attitude towards Sheng

13. Language Assessment Kenya

14. Language Assessment Kenya: First Conclusions Status of Standard Swahili in Kenya is high Kenyans associate “educatedness” with it “Standard” Swahili does not resonate with Kenyans Young Kenyans identify with Sheng Some companies use Sheng in marketing materials for its appeal to the youth There is little need for IT products & services in Standard Swahili in Kenya To reach lower middle-class and working masses, there is a need for IT products & services in a version of Swahili that is customized for Kenya