Swahili, also known by its local name Kiswahili, is a Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique. Estimates of the number of Swahili speakers, including both native and second-language speakers, vary widely. They generally range from 60 million to 150 million; with most of its native speakers residing in Tanzania.
International Sign (IS) is a pidgin sign language which is used in a variety of different contexts, particularly as an international auxiliary language at meetings such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) congress, in some European Union settings, and at some UN conferences, at events such as the Deaflympics, the Miss & Mister Deaf World, and Eurovision, and informally when travelling and socialising.
British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom and is the first or preferred language among the deaf community in the UK. While private correspondence from William Stokoe hinted at a formal name for the language in 1960, the first usage of the term "British Sign Language" in an academic publication was likely by Aaron Cicourel. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on the 2011 Scottish Census, the British Deaf Association estimates there are 151,000 BSL users in the UK, of whom 87,000 are Deaf. By contrast, in the 2011 England and Wales Census 15,000 people living in England and Wales reported themselves using BSL as their main language. People who are not deaf may also use BSL, as hearing relatives of deaf people, sign language interpreters or as a result of other contact with the British Deaf community. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face and head.
Auslan is the sign language used by the majority of the Australian Deaf community. Auslan is related to British Sign Language (BSL) and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL); the three have descended from the same parent language, and together comprise the BANZSL language family. As with other sign languages, Auslan's grammar and vocabulary is quite different from spoken English. Its origin cannot be attributed to any individual; rather, it is a natural language that emerged spontaneously and has changed over time.
Sheng is primarily a Swahili and English-based cant, perhaps a mixed language or creole, originating among the urban youth of Nairobi, Kenya, and influenced by many of the languages spoken there. While primarily a language of urban youths, it has spread across social classes and geographically to neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda.
Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language.
New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights and obligations in the use of NZSL throughout the legal system and to ensure that the Deaf community had the same access to government information and services as everybody else. According to the 2013 Census, over 20,000 New Zealanders know NZSL.
The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc (RID) is a non-profit organization founded on June 16, 1964, and incorporated in 1972, that seeks to uphold standards, ethics, and professionalism for American Sign Language interpreters. RID is currently a membership organization. The organization grants credentials earned by interpreters who have passed assessments for American Sign Language to English and English to American Sign Language interpretation and maintains their certificates by taking continuing education units. RID provides a Certification Maintenance Program (CMP) to certified members in support of skill-enhancing studies. The organization also provides the Ethical Practices System (EPS) for those who want to file grievances against members of RID. The organization also collaborated with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) to develop the Code of Professional Conduct (CPC). The CPC Standard Practice Papers (SPP) are also available for professional interpreters to reference. RID is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.
Kenya is a multilingual country. The two official languages of Kenya, Swahili and English, are widely spoken as lingua francas; however, including second-language speakers, Swahili is more widely spoken than English. Swahili is a Bantu language native to East Africa and English is inherited from British colonial rule.
The endoglossic language of Somalia has always been Somali, although throughout Somalia's history various exoglossic languages have also been used at a national level.
Humble Hearts School, Kenya's first bilingual school for the deaf using Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) and English on an equal basis, was started by Beatrice Anunda on 9 September 2003.
Translators without Borders (TWB) is a non-profit organization set up to provide translation services for humanitarian non-profits. It was established in 2010 as a sister organization of Traducteurs Sans Frontières, founded in 1993 by Lori Thicke and Ros Smith-Thomas. As of 2022, it had over 100,000 members. TWB's objective is to address language disparities that impede crucial humanitarian efforts. They aim to accomplish this by facilitating collaboration between non-profit humanitarian entities and a volunteer community of translators.
Mass media in Kenya includes more than 91 FM stations, more than 64 free to view TV stations, and an unconfirmed number of print newspapers and magazines. Publications mainly use English as their primary language of communication, with some media houses employing Swahili. Vernacular or community-based languages are commonly used in broadcast media; mostly radio.
Around seven Tanzanian sign languages were independently developed among deaf students in separate Tanzanian schools for the deaf, starting in 1963. However, the use of several is forbidden by their respective schools. In 1984, a standardized Tanzanian Sign Language was proposed by the Tanzania Association for the Deaf, using common or similar signs where these exist in schools that allowed research. However, it has not been officially implemented, and there remains little influence between the languages. A dictionary has been produced, while still several online resources, e.g. SignWiki, PDFs or YouTube-Videos, are published by different entities. With TSL as with other languages, language standardization comes with some politics and issues of power involved. In 2019, the prime minister, when visiting the national celebrations of the International Week of the Deaf in Iringa, announced another program working on “Harmonization and Standardisation of Tanzanian Sign Language”.
Ugandan Sign Language (USL) is the deaf sign language of Uganda.
The Arab sign-language family is a family of sign languages spread across the Arab Middle East. Its extent is not yet known, because only some of the sign languages in the region have been compared.
Emirati Sign Language (Arabic: لغة الإشارة الإماراتية, romanized: Lughat al-Ishārah al-Imārātīyah is a unified sign language for the deaf community in the UAE.
Deaf Education in Kenya is a constantly changing section of the Kenyan education system that is focused on educating deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing-impaired Kenyan students. There are many organizations in Kenya made to protect the rights of Deaf Kenyans and promote progress in deaf education. The state of Kenyan deaf education is constantly changing and improving.
ASL interpreting is the real-time translation between American Sign Language (ASL) and another language to allow communication between parties who do not share functional use of either language. Domains of practice include medical/mental health, legal, educational/vocational training, worship, and business settings. Interpretation may be performed consecutively, simultaneously or a combination of the two, by an individual, pair, or team of interpreters who employ various interpreting strategies. ASL interpretation has been overseen by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf since 1964.
Nicaragua's total population is 6,000,000, but a reliable count of the number of deaf people in Nicaragua is difficult to obtain. In 2009, a law was passed in which Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL) was named as the official language of deaf people in Nicaragua. NSL is a newer sign language that emerged less than 50 years ago when deaf children started attending school. Due to the country's lack of early childhood hearing screenings, hearing loss is often undetected and left untreated. Deaf and hard-of-hearing children often face language deprivation due to the lack of language input they experience until they enter school. There are many schools in different cities in Nicaragua; however, the majority of deaf children throughout the country are not attending school. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people also face struggles when finding employment opportunities. NSL isn't an endangered sign language, but the total number of people who use the language are under 10,000.
