15 Mar 2013

Language is essential for the expression and preservation of culture and it is important to protect languages that carry essential elements of cultural identity.

The French ambassador to Botswana, Mrs Anne de la Blache said this when officiating at the third workshop on Untranslatable Heritage in Gaborone on March 14.

The ambassador said the workshop theme: Transmission and Preservation Cultural Heritage sought to find balance between the need to communicate between people using an internationally spoken language and the necessity of preserving other languages some of which mirrored a specific culture.

She gave an example of such mirroring the Setswana word ‘Pula’ which she said could be translated into three or more different English words such as rain, blessing, money or cheer or toast.

Such words, she said enlightened one on the culture of Botswana. “Without being too simplistic, we can say that rain is used to and still does sustain the cattle, crops and countryside, and thus generated and still generates income, and brings blessings,” she said.

Thus, she said translation of specific concepts of a language remained critical in the preservation and transmission of cultural heritage.

Ambassador de la Blache encouraged Batswana interested in learning French to visit the Alliance Francaise where they would also find some cultural events of French culture. She also encouraged her countrymen and women visiting Botswana to learn Setswana.

The workshop was the third edition of a concept that was launched two years ago in Paris, and successfully continued last year in Dakar and this year in Gaborone. It ends on March 16 and it aims at tackling key questions in the area of linguistic heritage and effectiveness of inter-generational transmission of languages among others. ENDS