Microsoft Launches Quechua App For Tablets

Resource:  Peru This Week

By Rachel Chase

Proponents of Quechua hope that using the language in a technological setting will help to preserve the indigenous tongue.

Microsoft is helping to preserve the indigenous language of Quechua through a rather unexpected medium: the app.

According to Andina news agency, Microsoft is launching an application with tablet tools in Quechua for Windows tablet devices. Andina reports that the launch will take place on Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Cusco Conventions Center. The launch is part of Quechua Week, an event sponsored by the Ministry of Culture that aims to celebrate and promote the indigenous language.

Cusco writer Luis Nieto Degregori told Andina that by using Quechua in high-tech devices, proponents of its use can make sure it lives on for years to come. “Quechua should be in computers, in cell phones, in tablets— it’s very important; it’s a language of the present and of the future, and this is one of the ways to make sure Quechua doesn’t disappear,” Nieto Degregori, the author of acclaimed 2003 book “Cuzco después del amor” (“Cusco after the love”) said.

Quechua is the most widely-spoken indigenous language in South America. According to 2007 Peruvian census data, there are more than 3 million Quechua speakers in the country. There may be as many as 10 million Quechua speakers worldwide.