Blogs

  • SADiLaR celebrates PhD aimed at improving Sesotho learners’ reading skills

    A former high school teacher’s quest to improve the poor reading ability of learners in low-resource languages has resulted in a groundbreaking PhD centered on the development of a means to measure text readability while developing digital language resources for Sesotho. This research is the first of its kind and will also serve as a…

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  • Child speech database research project attracts international attention

    A research project aimed at compiling a child speech database for the South African context, with a focus on speech samples of typically developing Afrikaans and Sesotho sa Leboa-speaking children, is garnering attention both nationally and internationally. Funded by the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) and led by Juan Bornman, now professor…

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  • SADiLaR funding helps launch the ǂKhomani | Hugh Brody Archive

    A research project, funded by the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR), has helped realise the long-held dream of South Africa’s ǂKhomani community to share their proud history with the rest of the world. Dr Kerry Jones, director of African Tongue and research lead on the project, has worked tirelessly with her research…

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  • SADiLaR workshop highlights benefits of online dictionaries

    The South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) recently facilitated a successful online-dictionary training workshop at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). Hosted by UKZN’s University Language Planning and Development Office (ULPDO) on 7 December 2023, the one-day workshop invited staff, students, and language practitioners to delve into the world of online dictionaries and discover…

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  • South Africa joins CLARIN ERIC as member

    After a fruitful five years as an observer of CLARIN ERIC, South Africa has become an official member of the distributed digital infrastructure as of 1 January 2024. South Africa is the first member country outside of Europe, and SADiLaR is the proud representative body for SA. Currently, CLARIN ERIC has 24 members and two…

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  • Digital footprint crucial for indigenous language preservation

    “The work that is being done by SWiP is highly commendable. The key message of today’s meeting for me is the importance of preserving our languages. As a Zulu speaker, it is crucial that isiZulu does not die.” These are the words of Tholakele Nkwanyana, a lecturer in Education and Language Development at North-West University…

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