CI-NEWS

For effective bilingualism: Delegates want creation of agency to translate public documents.

2019-10-08

No: 450

For effective bilingualism: Delegates want creation of agency to translate public documents.

Participants at the Bilingualism commission of the Major National Dialogue headed by the First Vice President of the Social Democratic Front, Joshua Osih, have proposed the creation of a national translation agency that will help in the promotion of effective bilingualism in the country.

Meeting during their first session on Tuesday, the members of the committee said the creation of a Central Translation Agency (CTA) is necessary to translate all official documents before they are sent out for public consumption. Members of the commission proposed that the agency should be the only body that visas any official document before it goes out to the public for consumption. The members also made other proposals to reinforce bilingualism in the country such as the return to the bilingual system of education as was the case in schools like the Federal Bilingual Grammar School in Buea, where students will come out as bilingual citizens. They also proposed sign posts on all streets in the country should be bilingual taking into account the main language in the regions. The participants of the commission said the official languages should not be a source of division but pride for the country which can take advantage to export them. In a strategic geographical location, Cameroon should be able to export English language to CEMAC countries and French to Nigeria through its language professionals, the participants said.

Apart from the two official languages, proposals were made for the Pidgin English to be valorized given that it is a very popular mode of communication in the country. National languages were not left out as participants proposed Cameroon should make official the use of some local languages with respect to certain regions, in order to help promote and strengthen multiculturalism.

Culled from Cameroon Insider

“We have a lot to learn from the Canadian model of bilingualism”

Paul Ayah, member of the Bilingualism Commission of the Major National Dialogue

How can you assess the conduct of the dialogue so far?

So far, I am impressed by the quality of the organisation. No organisation is perfect, there have been some lapses here and there but perfection exists only in theory. It is a good and enjoyable process and I hope it continues till the end.

What are the proposals you have been making at the committee for bilingualism?

We have been making proposals to ensure that the country effectively becomes bilingual rather than becoming bilingual only in laws. There have been a wide range of proposals and personally during my submissions, I made the difference between institutional bilingualism and individual bilingualism because the two are different. I think the main problem we have right now and what participants are focusing on is institutional bilingualism, that is to try and get government institutions to provide services to all Cameroonians in both languages. I think that is where the frustrations about marginalisation come from, the fact that people are not able to receive services in the language that they understand best. I think once we have institutional bilingualism, effective individual bilingualism will follow. There have been proposals along both lines but mainly for institutional bilingualism.

As a Cameroonian living in Canada, what can the country copy from the Canadian model of bilingualism?

The Canadian model is very strong in terms of institutional bilingualism. It’s taken at least 30 or 35 years for that to be put in place. Over that period, there was a system where everybody functions at a certain level as far as bilingualism is concerned, all individuals working at the government levels have to be bilingual. You have to be bilingual to be able to rise in the administration above a certain position. So that has been very effective, and in addition, the translation part of bilingualism has been very effective. There is no government ministry in Canada that will put up information in one language and then wait for weeks before putting it out in the other language. Both documents come out at the same time. So, we in Cameroon have a lot to learn, and I am glad that there have been some visits by the bilingualism commission in Canada a few months ago. They have been able to learn and see how things are done over there. I hope those measures are going to be implemented here effectively with time. Let’s hope this dialogue will be a spur to get people responsible to be able to implement the recommendations that come out of here.

How easy was it for you to honour the invitation to come to Cameroon and talk about issues of national life?

It was not difficult but my main concern about coming here was to ensure we are not coming here to waste our time but to effectively make proposals that will help the country to move forward. I was trying to avoid the situation where you come, make proposals and in the end you see a different set of resolutions that do not reflect what was actually discussed. So I am hoping that we will move here with some effective resolutions that will help the country to move forward.

How can you assess the work you have done so far in your commission?

We have a very competent chairperson and he has been conducting it very well, giving the floor to everybody to talk and he has given everybody enough time to express themselves. We can have no complaints on how work has been going on in the commission.

Culled from Cameroon Insider.

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For effective bilingualism: Delegates want creation of agency to translate public documents.