Un milione di voci, asteroid 2012 DA14, German in Senegal

Small link roundup again today:

--- As of a few days ago the Italian Wikipedia has 1 million articles.

--- Asteroid 2012 DA14 will be one of the closest flybys we've ever seen, and in addition to this it is a particularly large object: 50 metres in diameter compared to our usual 5 - 10 metres or so. This combination of close distance and large size makes it an interesting enough encounter that NASA has just released a video on the flyby.



--- This article in French says that German is more and more popular in schools...in Senegal.

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Wolof language gaining strength in Senegal at the expense of French?

That's according to this article, which asks if Senegal is still a francophone country. According to it Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire still prefers French for both international and national communication, but in Dakar (Senegal) Wolof is spoken not just as a local tongue but also as a language of education and intellectualism as well, and this makes it difficult sometimes for even other francophone Africans to ask for directions there.

There are 34 comments below the article, the first one mentioning that Senegal != Wolof, and that French works as a common language within the country itself.

Another comment below links to a source saying that 35% of the Senegalese population 10+ years of age can read and write French. Another survey on 1000 individuals 15+ years of age shows that 72% to 74% of those in Dakar can express themselves in French, with 30% "with difficulty". There is a lot more information to be found in the comments below too.

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Unveiling of the 49-metre tall African Renaissance monument statue in Dakar, Senegal

NRK has a short video here of Dakar's new monument, a statue of 49 metres in height, which every article one can find fails to neglect to mention is a bit higher than the Statue of Liberty (46 metres), though when the pedestal is included the Statue of Liberty reaches 93 metres...but then again this new monument also seems to be on top of a hill...anyway, they're both big statues.

Total cost: $27 million or 20 million euros, and a symbol of 50 years of independence. It is no surprise that some are calling the statue a waste of money. Is it? Well:

Senegal has a GDP per capita of $1066, which makes the cost of the statue equivalent to that of the salary of 25,328 people over a year. Comparatively speaking, this would be the equivalent of a project in the US costing a bit over $1 billion.

But then again these comparisons can only go so far as if the statue does end up becoming a tourist destination the $27 million spent to construct it would seem small in comparison. Future economic growth in Senegal is also a factor, as if the country can work to bring more and more people out of poverty (and construct nuclear power plants by 2020 as it plans) over the next decade or so the cost of the monument will pale by comparison, and if not then it may end up as a huge boondoggle and symbol of government waste. The Eiffel Tower is a good example of the former, and Kim Il-Sung statues in North Korea that light up the night sky while other parts of cities stay dark (you can see it from Dandong in China when night falls and Shinuiju - 신의주 - on the other side of the Yalu River becomes dark except for the big statue and a few pinpricks of light in buildings) are probably the most extreme example of the latter.

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Confucius Institute to be opened in Senegal at Chiekh Anta Diop University in the capital Dakar

From here in French.

A Confucius Institute will be set up shortly at the Chiekh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in Dakar. A framework agreement was signed to this effect on Wednesday between a high-level Chinese delegation and the management of UCAD. The rector of the university, Abdou Salam Sall, said to Xinhua News that the creation of this institute in the most modern part of UCAD is a realization of the wishes of the leaders of the Senegalese and Chinese governments when they met last February in Dakar.

According to the chief of the Chinese delegation, Li Shusen, what differs from other Confucius Institutes in this case already present in certain African countries is that here China will construct a 3-stage building at UCAD specifically for this institute, whereas Confucius Institutes in other countries usually borrow a part of the existing university when being set up.

According to the Embassy of China in Senegal, since the resumption of relations between China and Senegal in 2005, some 10,000 Senegalese have obtained a visa to go to China, to study, work, do business or travel.

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China's President Hu Jintao to visit Saudi Arabia and the four African nations of Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius

Skyline of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius.

Ooh, Mauritius is included. That's my favourite African country. Maybe along with the visit there will be a few pieces on the countries themselves in the Chinese media (Mauritius is written as 毛里求斯 in Chinese) and that might include some info on the language there, a creole derived from French.

Source: turkish.cri.cn (Turkish)

Hu Jintao, Suudi Arabistan ve 4 Afrika ülkesini ziyaret edecek

Hu Jintao to visit Saudi Arabia and 4 African nations

(GMT+08:00) 2009-02-03 21:28:24 cri

Çin Cumhurbaşkanı Hu Jintao'nun, Suudi Arabistan Kralı Abdullah Bin Abdülaziz, Mali Devlet Başkanı Toumany Toure, Senegal Devlet Başkanı Abdoulaye Wade, Tanzanya Devlet Başkanı Jakaya Kikwete, Morityus Devlet Başkanı Anerood Jugnauth ve Başbakan Navin Ramgoolam'ın davetlisi olarak 10-17 Şubat günlerinde adı geçen beş ülkeyi ziyaret edeceğini duyurdu.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will be making an overseas visit from the 10th to 17th of February to five nations, where he will meet King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, Mali's President Toumany Toure, Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete, and Mauritius' President Anerood Jugnauth and Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam.

Sözcü, Hu Jintao'nun ziyaretlerinin, Çin ile bu ülkeler arasındaki dostluk ilişkilerinin daha da sağlamlaştırılıp pekiştirilmesi, Çin-Afrika İşbirliği Forumu Beijing Zirvesi'nin sonuçlarının hayata geçirilmesi ve ortak gelişmenin hızlandırılması amacını taşıdığını belirtti. Hu Jintao'nun ziyaretleri sırasında çeşitli ülke liderleriyle yapacağı görüşmelerde, Çin ile adı geçen beş ülke arasındaki ikili ilişkilerin yanısıra, her iki tarafı da ilgilendiren uluslararası ve bölgesel sorunlar üzerinde fikir alışverişinde bulunacağı bildirildi.

A spokesman said that the goals of the visits are to further consolidate and reinforce friendly relations between China and these countries, implement results from the China-Africa Cooperation Forum Summit in Beijing, and speed up joint development. In the talks to take place between Hu Jintao and the leaders of these various nations during his visit, besides bilateral relations between China and the aforementioned nations there will also be an exchange of ideas on international and regional issues between the two sides.

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67 million dollars of trade between Senegal and Turkey in 2007, 2008 sees 50% increase / Les échanges commerciaux se chiffrent à $67 millions

Here's a page from a Senegalese newspaper in French on trade between Turkey and Senegal. It's a bit long so here are just the important parts:

Les relations commerciales entre le Sénégal et la Turquie se portent relativement bien, si l’on en juge par le montant des transactions commerciales qui ont atteint la barre des 67 millions de dollars par an.

The commercial relations between Senegal and Turkey are doing relatively well, if one judges by the amount of commercial transactions, which have reached 67 million dollars per year.

Pour 2008, le représentant de la Turquie à Dakar espère une augmentation du volume des échanges commerciaux. ‘En 2008, il y aura une augmentation de 50 %’, certifie le diplomate turc. Toutefois, selon lui, les échanges commerciaux entre nos deux pays ne sont pas à la hauteur de nos ‘relations politiques’ qui, elles, remontent aux premières années de notre indépendance.

For 2008, the representative of Turkey to Dakar expects an increase in the volume of trade. "In 2008, there will be an increase of 50%", certified the Turkish diplomat. However, he said, the commercial exchanges between our two countries are not up to the heights of our 'political relations', which go back to the early years of our independence.

Pour Makhary Diakhaté, président de l’association ‘Pont de fraternité et d’échanges Sénégal/Turquie’, il y a beaucoup de ressemblances entre nos deux pays. C’est pourquoi, il considère que ‘la Turquie peut être un modèle de développement pour le Sénégal parce que nous avons beaucoup de ressemblances, notamment sur le plan religieux. Mieux je peux dire que les problèmes qu’il y a au Sénégal, nous avons les solutions en Turquie.

For Makhary Diakhaté, president of the association "Bridge of fraternity and exchanges Senegal/Turkey", there are many commonalities between our two countries. That's why he considers that "Turkey could be a model of development for Senegal as we have many similarities, notably regarding religious. The best I can say is that for the problems that are in Senegal, we have the solutions in Turkey."

On Tika (l’Agence de coopération turque pour le développement (Tika) -- The Turkish Cooperation Agency for Development):

Dans le domaine agricole, la Tika exécute un projet d’amélioration de la pomme de terre pour une valeur de 400 millions de francs. En outre, la coopération turque se signale par l’envoi de spécialistes surtout dans le domaine de la santé. L’année dernière, par exemple, 24 médecins turcs ont séjourné au Sénégal pendant un mois. Durant cette période, cette équipe pluridisciplinaire s’est déployée à l’intérieur du pays, comme à Touba, Guédiawaye, Saint Louis et Kaolack. Les médecins turcs avaient effectué 8 300 consultations, plus de 100 circoncisions et distribué trois tonnes de médicaments.

In the domain of agriculture, Tika has been implementing a project to improve potatoes with a value of 400 million Francs. Moreover, Turkish cooperation is shown in the sending of specialists especially in the domain of health. Last year, for example, 24 Turkish doctors visited Senegal for a month. During this period, this multidisciplinary team was deployed at the interior of the country, such as Touba, Guédiawaye, Saint Louis and Kaolack. The Turkish doctors had completed 8 300 consultations, more than 100 circumcisions and distributed three tonnes of medicines.

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Over 17,000 in Senegal learn Portuguese

No big surprise here if you know your African geography and demographics - Senegal (in red) borders Guinea-Bissau (in green) where the official language is Portuguese, so a lot of people in the south of Senegal end up learning Portuguese. Here's part of what this article says:

Around 17,000 Senegalese are learning Portuguese in primary and secondary schools and another 700 students are enrolled in Portuguese courses at one of Dakar’s main state universities, officials said.

José Horta, head of the Senegal section at the Portuguese Language Centre of the Camões Institute, told the Lusa News Agency Portuguese is taught in ten of Senegal’s 11 regions.

The Francophone West African state has even more students learning Portuguese than France, traditionally with a big Portuguese immigrant community, he noted.

It has been compulsory since Senegal’s independence to study another language besides French and English, and Portuguese is a popular choice for many Senegalese pupils from the eighth grade onwards, said Horta.

It would be interesting to see how easy or hard the students found the language to learn considering their related mother tongue. Here's an example of the two side by side:

Eu gosto - J'aime
de nadar - nager
de ler - lire
de falar - parler
de dormir - dormir
de ir ao cinema com um amigo - aller au cinéma avec un ami

If you look even closer in on the region you can see another place on a micro scale that might be willing to give the idea of an international language a listen:

That area in the middle from The Gambia to Senegal to Guinea-Bissau has three official languages that are generally used as sources for vocabulary in European-based auxlangs: English, French, and Portuguese, respectively. The total area is around the same as West Virginia (if you're American), New Brunswick (if you're Canadian), or Latvia (if the previous two places mean nothing to you).

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