I was waiting for a meeting with a government counterpart the other day and picked up a copy of a magazine published by the ministry as part of some information dissemination project or other. The magazine was apparently quite new and quite interesting because four of the people in the waiting room were leafing through it, including the secretary of the (relatively senior) person I was to meet. The magazine was available in Portuguese, Tetum and Indonesian; see if you can guess what the split was between the languages...
Portuguese: 0
Tetum: 1
Indonesian: 3
I suppose the lack of Portuguese readers isn't terribly surprising, but the fact that Indonesian readers outnumbered Tetum readers 3:1 was interesting. I asked why.
"There are so many Portuguese words in the Tetum they use that we can't understand it" came the reply.
I discussed this later that night with Lena - Bibi Bulak member and author in the competition - and she said that this sort of thing is incredibly common. Newspaper articles written in Tetum are often almost unintelligible due to the large number of Portuguese words used, even to some university educated Timorese.
This is a real challenge to writers in Timor-Leste as they continue to develop the language. Do they go down the Portuguese route, the Melayu route, the English route or the Tetum Terik route (where one exists)?
We are hoping to get a letter from the National Institute of Linguistics (INL) verifying that our book is in standard Tetum. Teo - the author of the first book we hope to publish - is quite familiar with standard Tetum because of his work on the Lafaek project with CARE International, so hopefully that shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Showing posts with label Literacy news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literacy news. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Buku-buku Indonesia untuk Timor Leste
Salah satu hal yang membuat saya mulai berpikir tentang kompetisi Istoria Timor ini adalah keterbatasan buku-buku fiksi yang dapat dibeli ataupun dipinjam oleh remaja Timor-Leste. Walaupun Bahasa Indonesia tidak merupakan sebuah bahasa nasional untuk Timor Leste, ratusan ribu orang masih menggunakan bahasa Indonesia untuk keperluan sehari-hari dan masih suka mengkonsumsi media Indonesia (mentang-mentang media dari tanahnya sendiri sedang diancam).
Buku-buku yang disediakan untuk masyarakat Timor Leste di perpustakaan umum biasanya hanya buku-buku sumbangan dari SD dan SMA di Australia atau Portugal, yaitu dalam bahasa Inggris atau Portugis yang tidak dikenal sebagian besar Timor oan. Oleh karena itu saya, sama pacarku, suka meminjam buku-buku Indonesia yang kami punya kepada teman-teman yang niat disini.
Memang, buku ini hanya akan digunakan untuk sementara, sebelum masyarakat Timor Leste mulai menguasai bahasa Portuguis atau industri penerbitan buku dalam bahasa Tetum sudah matang. Tapi lumayanlah, ini masih akan makan waktu sedikit-dikitnya 20-40 tahun. Daripada bengong atau gabung dengan gang-gang bandel, mendingan baca lah...
Mana Okke Sepatumerah, seorang penulis yang berasal dari Bandung yang pernah bekerja di Timor Leste dan Nusa Tenggara Timor tertarik juga dengan proyek kami ini. Sebagai tambahan untuk Istoria Timor, Mana Okke menciptakan sebuah inisiatif untuk mengumpulkan buku-buku fiksi, how-to/ketrampilan, self-help dan lainnya di Indonesia untuk mengirim ke Timor Leste. Informasi lebih lanjut ada disini.
Buku-bukunya akan dikumpulkan terus dikirim ke rumah orang tua saya di Jakarta. Saya akan ke Jakarta pada bulan April, jadi saya bisa jemput dan bawa buku-buku itu ke Dili untuk masyarakat Timor yang ingin membacanya.
Jika anda mempunyai organisasi yang bisa menyebarluaskan buku-buku ini kepada para calon-pembaca di Timor Leste, silahkan hubungi saya lewat Comment dibawah atau lewat email di johnholdaway(at)gmail(dot)com.
PS - Jangan lupa mengucapkan Terima Kasih kepada para donatur dan Mana Okke!
Buku-buku yang disediakan untuk masyarakat Timor Leste di perpustakaan umum biasanya hanya buku-buku sumbangan dari SD dan SMA di Australia atau Portugal, yaitu dalam bahasa Inggris atau Portugis yang tidak dikenal sebagian besar Timor oan. Oleh karena itu saya, sama pacarku, suka meminjam buku-buku Indonesia yang kami punya kepada teman-teman yang niat disini.
Memang, buku ini hanya akan digunakan untuk sementara, sebelum masyarakat Timor Leste mulai menguasai bahasa Portuguis atau industri penerbitan buku dalam bahasa Tetum sudah matang. Tapi lumayanlah, ini masih akan makan waktu sedikit-dikitnya 20-40 tahun. Daripada bengong atau gabung dengan gang-gang bandel, mendingan baca lah...
Mana Okke Sepatumerah, seorang penulis yang berasal dari Bandung yang pernah bekerja di Timor Leste dan Nusa Tenggara Timor tertarik juga dengan proyek kami ini. Sebagai tambahan untuk Istoria Timor, Mana Okke menciptakan sebuah inisiatif untuk mengumpulkan buku-buku fiksi, how-to/ketrampilan, self-help dan lainnya di Indonesia untuk mengirim ke Timor Leste. Informasi lebih lanjut ada disini.
Buku-bukunya akan dikumpulkan terus dikirim ke rumah orang tua saya di Jakarta. Saya akan ke Jakarta pada bulan April, jadi saya bisa jemput dan bawa buku-buku itu ke Dili untuk masyarakat Timor yang ingin membacanya.
Jika anda mempunyai organisasi yang bisa menyebarluaskan buku-buku ini kepada para calon-pembaca di Timor Leste, silahkan hubungi saya lewat Comment dibawah atau lewat email di johnholdaway(at)gmail(dot)com.
PS - Jangan lupa mengucapkan Terima Kasih kepada para donatur dan Mana Okke!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Galp delivering books to Timorese schools
Via ETAN:
[translated via google. Portuguese original follows english text. Anyone reposting this might want to note that the translation is very unofficial. - JMM/ETAN]
Galp Energia delivering books to Timorese schools
Dili, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Nearly seven thousand books collected in a campaign of Galp Energia in Portugal were today delivered to the Ministry of Education in East Timor Portuguese embassy in Dili.
The books were symbolically delivered by Ambassador of Portugal, Joao Ramos Pinto, to the vice minister of Education of East Timor, Paulo Assis.
The titles, in Portuguese, will be distributed by schools throughout the country.
At the same time, there was an exhibition of works by East Timorese trainees of intensive courses in Portuguese, which took place between July and September 2008.
Paulo Assis said that "the choice to reintroduce the Portuguese in East Timor was the Timorese, to someone else, not from Portugal or Brazil."
The Deputy Minister of Education thanked the efforts of teachers who exchanged the months of holidays in the calendar year to achieve the intensive courses.
During two months of school holidays, the courses covered 90 teachers and 2100 Portuguese Timorese trainees.
--
Segunda-feira, Outubro 20, 2008
(http://timor-online.blogspot.com/2008/10/galp-energia-entrega-livros-escolas.html)Galp Energia entrega livros a escolas timorenses
Díli, 20 Out (Lusa) - Cerca de sete mil livros recolhidos numa campanha da Galp Energia em Portugal foram hoje entregues ao Ministério da Educação timorense na Embaixada de Portugal em Díli.
Os livros foram entregues simbolicamente pelo embaixador de Portugal, João Ramos Pinto, ao vice-ministro da Educação de Timor-Leste, Paulo Assis.
Os títulos, em português, serão distribuídos pelas escolas em todo o país.
Ao mesmo tempo, foi apresentada uma exposição de trabalhos efectuados pelos formandos timorenses dos cursos intensivos de português, que decorreram entre Julho e Setembro de 2008.
Paulo Assis declarou que “a escolha de reintroduzir a língua portuguesa em Timor-Leste foi dos timorenses, de mais ninguém, não de Portugal ou do Brasil”.
O vice-ministro da Educação agradeceu o esforço dos professores que trocaram os meses de férias no calendário anual para concretizar os cursos intensivos.
Durante dois meses de férias escolares, os cursos abrangeram 90 professores portugueses e 2100 formandos timorenses.
PRM
Lusa/fim
[translated via google. Portuguese original follows english text. Anyone reposting this might want to note that the translation is very unofficial. - JMM/ETAN]
Galp Energia delivering books to Timorese schools
Dili, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Nearly seven thousand books collected in a campaign of Galp Energia in Portugal were today delivered to the Ministry of Education in East Timor Portuguese embassy in Dili.
The books were symbolically delivered by Ambassador of Portugal, Joao Ramos Pinto, to the vice minister of Education of East Timor, Paulo Assis.
The titles, in Portuguese, will be distributed by schools throughout the country.
At the same time, there was an exhibition of works by East Timorese trainees of intensive courses in Portuguese, which took place between July and September 2008.
Paulo Assis said that "the choice to reintroduce the Portuguese in East Timor was the Timorese, to someone else, not from Portugal or Brazil."
The Deputy Minister of Education thanked the efforts of teachers who exchanged the months of holidays in the calendar year to achieve the intensive courses.
During two months of school holidays, the courses covered 90 teachers and 2100 Portuguese Timorese trainees.
--
Segunda-feira, Outubro 20, 2008
(http://timor-online.blogspot.com/2008/10/galp-energia-entrega-livros-escolas.html)Galp Energia entrega livros a escolas timorenses
Díli, 20 Out (Lusa) - Cerca de sete mil livros recolhidos numa campanha da Galp Energia em Portugal foram hoje entregues ao Ministério da Educação timorense na Embaixada de Portugal em Díli.
Os livros foram entregues simbolicamente pelo embaixador de Portugal, João Ramos Pinto, ao vice-ministro da Educação de Timor-Leste, Paulo Assis.
Os títulos, em português, serão distribuídos pelas escolas em todo o país.
Ao mesmo tempo, foi apresentada uma exposição de trabalhos efectuados pelos formandos timorenses dos cursos intensivos de português, que decorreram entre Julho e Setembro de 2008.
Paulo Assis declarou que “a escolha de reintroduzir a língua portuguesa em Timor-Leste foi dos timorenses, de mais ninguém, não de Portugal ou do Brasil”.
O vice-ministro da Educação agradeceu o esforço dos professores que trocaram os meses de férias no calendário anual para concretizar os cursos intensivos.
Durante dois meses de férias escolares, os cursos abrangeram 90 professores portugueses e 2100 formandos timorenses.
PRM
Lusa/fim
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Related news
The story below came through the ETAN mailing list while I was away.
Northern Territory News
August 26, 2008
Gutsy novel wins top prize
By ALYSSA BETTS
THREE women waded through blood and guts to their waists, picking through gore and slimy tubes as they wiped their brows.
They peeked in diaries of soldiers, pages aged brown and burnt by shelling.
They visited the seaside for a break, sand grains rubbing under the pads of their fingers.
And then Darwin City Councillor Robyn Lesley, Territory librarian Iris Beale and student teacher Penny Cameron chose the Young Territory Author Awards.
``I didn't have very high expectations and I was really blown away by the standard,'' Ms Lesley said.
``Some students put in an inordinate amount of effort into the visual side of the book -- others were word craftsmiths.
``It must've taken some of the kids months to do it.''
The Darwin City Council awards, open to all Territory students, attracted 102 entries and were held last Wednesday during Children's Book Week.
Fourteen-year-old Rosanna Cameron was the overall winner and pocketed $500.
Her slim 5000-word novel -- entitled Found -- is told through the eyes of two main characters, a 10-year-old village girl and a soldier, living through the crisis of East Timor's struggle for independence.
The story unfolds as the girl's brother is killed by the soldier.
When the soldier is wounded in a revenge attack by a second brother, the parents -- horrified by the violence -- take in the soldier and care for him.
The three judges gave the Kormilda College student the gong for Found's originality, ``pertinence'' to the Top End, and evocation of emotions.
``The story's main point is that you can find some good in every situation -- one of the key things about it was compassion and kindness,'' Rosanna said.
It took her more than a year to finish; she started in early 2007 and promptly came down with a case of writer's block.
``One of the most difficult things was not knowing where the story would go next. There was also the ending -- I was stuck on it,'' she said.
She admitted it was also tricky getting into the head of her male soldier, but had help from family and friends who loaded her up with opinions.
Rosanna -- who won Kormilda's Elly Angel poetry prize last year -- said she was ``staggered'' to win the award.
Ms Lesley said it was almost too hard to say there was a best book in this year's pickings.
Entries ranged from the fictitious soldier's diary -- which had been aged and burnt around the edges -- to pop-up picture books full of flowers, and stories with collages of sea and sand.
``There were a couple of sci-fi novels by young fellows -- some of them with lots of blood and guts,'' Ms Lesley said. ``There were quite a few books that had an environmental twist.
``I wasn't expecting that level of creativity and skill from the younger ones.''
The books submitted for the awards, and suitable to be placed in a library collection, will be kept at Darwin's Casuarina Library for the public to read.
AGE GROUP WINNERS
AGE 16-18: Timothy Hansen for The Daughters Of Edgar Raven; AGE 13-15: Angie Ng for Wanda's Curse; AGE 9-12: Tisha Tejaya for Mysterique; AGE Under 8: Alfio Dilettoso for The Mean Queen.
HiGHLY COMMENDED
AGE 16-18: Jarod Laskazeski for Sea Creatures Watch Out; AGE 13-15: Jack Williams for A Soldier's Diary; AGE 13-15: Sean Guy for The Legend Of Hathor; AGE 9-12: Dylan Hage-Grey for Battle Of The Bands; AGE 9-12: Darren Brown for Battle Of The Bands; AGE Under 8: Analese Richards for What Was In The Garden; AGE Under 8: Brighid Goodbun for The Book Of Secrets; AGE UNDER 8: Caitlin Cuff for Circus Fun.
ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD
AGE 16-18: Nyrssa Fitzallen for My Brother Shannon And Other Stories.
Northern Territory News
August 26, 2008
Gutsy novel wins top prize
By ALYSSA BETTS
THREE women waded through blood and guts to their waists, picking through gore and slimy tubes as they wiped their brows.
They peeked in diaries of soldiers, pages aged brown and burnt by shelling.
They visited the seaside for a break, sand grains rubbing under the pads of their fingers.
And then Darwin City Councillor Robyn Lesley, Territory librarian Iris Beale and student teacher Penny Cameron chose the Young Territory Author Awards.
``I didn't have very high expectations and I was really blown away by the standard,'' Ms Lesley said.
``Some students put in an inordinate amount of effort into the visual side of the book -- others were word craftsmiths.
``It must've taken some of the kids months to do it.''
The Darwin City Council awards, open to all Territory students, attracted 102 entries and were held last Wednesday during Children's Book Week.
Fourteen-year-old Rosanna Cameron was the overall winner and pocketed $500.
Her slim 5000-word novel -- entitled Found -- is told through the eyes of two main characters, a 10-year-old village girl and a soldier, living through the crisis of East Timor's struggle for independence.
The story unfolds as the girl's brother is killed by the soldier.
When the soldier is wounded in a revenge attack by a second brother, the parents -- horrified by the violence -- take in the soldier and care for him.
The three judges gave the Kormilda College student the gong for Found's originality, ``pertinence'' to the Top End, and evocation of emotions.
``The story's main point is that you can find some good in every situation -- one of the key things about it was compassion and kindness,'' Rosanna said.
It took her more than a year to finish; she started in early 2007 and promptly came down with a case of writer's block.
``One of the most difficult things was not knowing where the story would go next. There was also the ending -- I was stuck on it,'' she said.
She admitted it was also tricky getting into the head of her male soldier, but had help from family and friends who loaded her up with opinions.
Rosanna -- who won Kormilda's Elly Angel poetry prize last year -- said she was ``staggered'' to win the award.
Ms Lesley said it was almost too hard to say there was a best book in this year's pickings.
Entries ranged from the fictitious soldier's diary -- which had been aged and burnt around the edges -- to pop-up picture books full of flowers, and stories with collages of sea and sand.
``There were a couple of sci-fi novels by young fellows -- some of them with lots of blood and guts,'' Ms Lesley said. ``There were quite a few books that had an environmental twist.
``I wasn't expecting that level of creativity and skill from the younger ones.''
The books submitted for the awards, and suitable to be placed in a library collection, will be kept at Darwin's Casuarina Library for the public to read.
AGE GROUP WINNERS
AGE 16-18: Timothy Hansen for The Daughters Of Edgar Raven; AGE 13-15: Angie Ng for Wanda's Curse; AGE 9-12: Tisha Tejaya for Mysterique; AGE Under 8: Alfio Dilettoso for The Mean Queen.
HiGHLY COMMENDED
AGE 16-18: Jarod Laskazeski for Sea Creatures Watch Out; AGE 13-15: Jack Williams for A Soldier's Diary; AGE 13-15: Sean Guy for The Legend Of Hathor; AGE 9-12: Dylan Hage-Grey for Battle Of The Bands; AGE 9-12: Darren Brown for Battle Of The Bands; AGE Under 8: Analese Richards for What Was In The Garden; AGE Under 8: Brighid Goodbun for The Book Of Secrets; AGE UNDER 8: Caitlin Cuff for Circus Fun.
ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD
AGE 16-18: Nyrssa Fitzallen for My Brother Shannon And Other Stories.
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