Ian – Ciyawo-English Dictionary
Ministry in Malawi
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To address the barriers, this project saw two dictionaries produced and published:
The English-Ciyawo Leaner’s Dictionary and
The Ciyawo-English Learner’s Dictionary, along with accompanying Android and Apple smartphone applications (apps).
These offer a first-of-their-kind resource to the Yawo of Malawi. The dictionaries were created to assist Yawo students grow in their capacity in English for primary and secondary education and address the low language comprehension rates.
Your support made that possible! Now this project is embarking on its final chapter…
With 800 dictionaries now in circulation and the numbers purchased far exceeding expectations, the Mangochi Department of Education has invited our former Intercultural Team Member, Ian, and a team of Yawo people to run workshops for Yawo students and schools in Mangochi, Malawi.
These sensitisation workshops are to equip primary and secondary students, and teachers, to best utilise the written and online dictionary publications, maximising long-term education and employment opportunities. Ian and the Yawo people involved are invited to run sensitisation workshops in 16 education zones and 24 community secondary schools, covering both primary and secondary schools in the broader Mangochi area. We want to see the linguistic benefits of dictionaries accessible for all Yawo!
The project will also see voice recording files added to the smartphone apps so that each person using the dictionary apps are able to hear pronunciations and examples of the words used in a relevant context. The goal is to help students hear, understand and communicate speech in the most natural manner possible in both Ciyawo and English.
Total project costs include:
This project will conclude at the end of 2024.
Committed to reconciliation, Baptist Mission Australia acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and their connection to land, sea and community and all that the creator God gifted to them. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Committed to reconciliation, Baptist Mission Australia acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and their connection to land, sea and community and all that the creator God gifted to them. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
