Hesperian Foundation
Encyclopedia
Hesperian Health Guides, formerly known as Hesperian Foundation, is a nongovernmental
non-profit organization
publishing health
guides for trained and untrained people to care for themselves and others. The foundation is based in Berkeley, California
. Among their best-selling publications is Where There is No Doctor
, first published in 1973 and updated every few years; the book has been translated to more than 80 language
s and the World Health Organization
estimates that it may be the most widely used public health
manual in the world.
Hesperian's publications are known for their simplicity of expression and copious illustrations, both intended to make them suitable for use by ordinary people in home and community contexts. Where There is No Doctor in particular was praised by those who felt it "demystified and politicized health care," communicating that "although some health problems require expert medical attention, there is much that we can do on our own to positively affect our health," a message also communicated in subsequent works. These publications are empowering to many.
Hesperian often works with other organizations to create new publications and revise older ones. The short work Water for Life: Community Water Security was published in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program. In 2006, Hesperian received a US$
40,000 grant
from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund
to develop a book on environmental health
, and in 2004 the Firelight Foundation provided a small grant to fund the revision of the 1999 book HIV, Health, and Your Community.
As of 2011, the organization had a rating of four out of four stars from Charity Navigator
for the efficient use of donated funds. Complementing its other activities, the organization includes a Gratis
Fund that sends free copies of its publications to those who cannot afford them, a translation fund providing seed grants to cover the costs of local translation and adaptation in international communities, and a grant fund to assist health education programs in developing creative ways to use Hesperian publications by such means as street theater and radio
broadcasts. Access to the publications also is fostered through the organization's policy of permitting copying, reproduction or adaptation of any part of a publication to meet local needs "provided the parts reproduced are distributed free or at cost—not for profit," resulting in the availability of online copies of various publications.
Hesperian Health Guides is an official supporting organization of HIFA2015 (Healthcare Information For All by 2015)
.
.
Hesperian's publications are widely praised by a variety of sources, and Hesperian involves organizations from all over the world in the development of its books. "Where There Is No Doctor is an indispensable resource... This book has been, quite literally, a lifesaver for the poor - even where there is a doctor." says Paul Farmer
, Professor of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
.
"Helping Children Who are Deaf" was praised in The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education for its "broad perspective. Parents, teachers, deaf adults, and health care workers from around the world—over 17 countries—advised and reviewed draft materials of the book. A very long and impressive list of individuals and organizations from Bangladesh
to Zimbabwe
are given credit and thanks for sharing their experiences, stories, and knowledge." Another review criticized the book as not sufficiently overcoming Western cultural assumptions
about areas such as privacy
.
In English
, and a few are available from the Foundation in French
, Vietnamese
, and Chinese
. Publications are distributed by a variety of other organizations in over 100 other languages, including:
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
publishing health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
guides for trained and untrained people to care for themselves and others. The foundation is based in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. Among their best-selling publications is Where There is No Doctor
Where There is No Doctor
Where There is No Doctor is the most widely used health education book in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries. Based on David Werner's experiences at his in western Mexico, it was originally written in Spanish as Donde No Hay Doctor. It has since been revised and has sold over one...
, first published in 1973 and updated every few years; the book has been translated to more than 80 language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
s and the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
estimates that it may be the most widely used public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
manual in the world.
Hesperian's publications are known for their simplicity of expression and copious illustrations, both intended to make them suitable for use by ordinary people in home and community contexts. Where There is No Doctor in particular was praised by those who felt it "demystified and politicized health care," communicating that "although some health problems require expert medical attention, there is much that we can do on our own to positively affect our health," a message also communicated in subsequent works. These publications are empowering to many.
Hesperian often works with other organizations to create new publications and revise older ones. The short work Water for Life: Community Water Security was published in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program. In 2006, Hesperian received a US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
40,000 grant
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund , , is an international philanthropic organisation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was set up in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle of the five famous Rockefeller brothers: John D...
to develop a book on environmental health
Environmental health
Environmental health is the branch of public health that is concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment that may affect human health...
, and in 2004 the Firelight Foundation provided a small grant to fund the revision of the 1999 book HIV, Health, and Your Community.
As of 2011, the organization had a rating of four out of four stars from Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is an independent, non-profit organization that evaluates American charities. Its stated goal is "to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities."-About:...
for the efficient use of donated funds. Complementing its other activities, the organization includes a Gratis
Gratis
Gratis is the process of providing goods or services without compensation. It is often referred to in English as "free of charge" or "complimentary"...
Fund that sends free copies of its publications to those who cannot afford them, a translation fund providing seed grants to cover the costs of local translation and adaptation in international communities, and a grant fund to assist health education programs in developing creative ways to use Hesperian publications by such means as street theater and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcasts. Access to the publications also is fostered through the organization's policy of permitting copying, reproduction or adaptation of any part of a publication to meet local needs "provided the parts reproduced are distributed free or at cost—not for profit," resulting in the availability of online copies of various publications.
Hesperian Health Guides is an official supporting organization of HIFA2015 (Healthcare Information For All by 2015)
HIFA2015 (Healthcare Information For All by 2015)
Healthcare Information For All by 2015 is a global network of health professionals, producers of reference and learning materials, librarians, technologists, researchers, and policymakers...
.
Reviews
Hesperian Health Guides "is responsible for countless miracles in various parts of the world by providing basic health care books to those who either cannot afford medical treatment or cannot survive the long, arduous journey to the nearest doctor," says the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
.
Hesperian's publications are widely praised by a variety of sources, and Hesperian involves organizations from all over the world in the development of its books. "Where There Is No Doctor is an indispensable resource... This book has been, quite literally, a lifesaver for the poor - even where there is a doctor." says Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer
Dr. Paul Edward Farmer is an American anthropologist and physician. He is currently the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard University, formerly the Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician and Chief...
, Professor of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
.
"Helping Children Who are Deaf" was praised in The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education for its "broad perspective. Parents, teachers, deaf adults, and health care workers from around the world—over 17 countries—advised and reviewed draft materials of the book. A very long and impressive list of individuals and organizations from Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
are given credit and thanks for sharing their experiences, stories, and knowledge." Another review criticized the book as not sufficiently overcoming Western cultural assumptions
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
about areas such as privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
.
In EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
- Where there is no doctor
- Where women have no doctor
- Where there is no dentist
- A book for midwives
- HIV, health and your community
- Disabled village children: A guide for community health workers, rehabilitation workers, and families
- Helping children who are blind: Family and community support for children with vision problems
- Helping children who are deaf: Family and community support for children who do not hear well
- A health handbook for women with disabilities
- Water for life: Community water security
- Helping health workers learn
- Sanitation and cleanliness for a healthy environment
- Pesticides are poison
In languages other than English
Most of the titles listed above are available from Hesperian in SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, and a few are available from the Foundation in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
, and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
. Publications are distributed by a variety of other organizations in over 100 other languages, including:
- AlbanianAlbanian languageAlbanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
- Amharic
- ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
- AymaraAymara languageAymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...
- Azeri
- Bangla
- BengaliBengali languageBengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
- Bicol
- BurmeseBurmese languageThe Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
- CebuanoCebuano languageCebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Bisaya , is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino...
- ChichewaChichewa languageChewa, also known as Nyanja, is a language of the Bantu language family. The gender prefix chi- is used for languages, so the language is also known as Chichewa and Chinyanja.-Distribution:...
- Chitimbuka
- Haitian CreoleCreole languageA creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
- CroatianCroatian languageCroatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
- Dari (Persian)Dari (Persian)Dari or Fārsī-ye Darī in historical terms refers to the Persian court language of the Sassanids. In contemporary usage, the term refers to the dialects of modern Persian language spoken in Afghanistan, and hence known as Afghan Persian in some Western sources. It is the term officially recognized...
- PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
- FijiFijiFiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
- Fulfulde
- GeorgianGeorgian languageGeorgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
- GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
- GujaratiGujarati languageGujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
- HausaHausa languageHausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first language by about 25 million people, and as a second language by about 18 million more, an approximate total of 43 million people...
- HiligaynonHiligaynon languageHiligaynon, often referred to as Ilonggo, is an Austronesian language spoken in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines.Hiligaynon is concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Capiz but is also spoken in the other provinces of the Panay Island group, including Antique,...
- Hindi
- IbanIban languageThe Iban language is spoken by the Iban, a branch of the Dayak ethnic group formerly known as "Sea Dayak" who live in Sarawak, the Indonesian province of Kalimantan Barat and in Brunei. It belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family, and is related to Malay, more...
- Ibatan
- IgboIgbo languageIgbo , or Igbo proper, is a native language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group primarily located in southeastern Nigeria. There are approximately 20 million speakers that are mostly in Nigeria and are primarily of Igbo descent. Igbo is a national language of Nigeria. It is written in the Latin...
- Ilocano
- Ilongo
- IndonesianIndonesian languageIndonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
- ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
- JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
- Jinghpaw
- KannadaKannada languageKannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
- KarakalpakKarakalpak languageKarakalpak is a Turkic language mainly spoken by Karakalpaks in Karakalpakstan , as well as by Bashkirs and Nogay. Ethnic Karakalpaks who live in the viloyatlar of Uzbekistan tend to speak local Uzbek dialects.-Classification:...
- Karen
- KazakhKazakh languageKazakh is a Turkic language which belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages, closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak....
- KhmerKhmer languageKhmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
- Kinyarwanda
- Kirundi
- Kisi
- KoreanKorean languageKorean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
- Kwangali
- KyrgyzKyrgyz languageKyrgyz or Kirgiz, also Kirghiz, Kyrghiz, Qyrghiz is a Turkic language and, together with Russian, an official language of Kyrgyzstan...
- LaoLao languageLao or Laotian is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the official language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Being the primary language of the Lao people, Lao is also an important second language for...
- LugandaLuganda languageGanda, or Luganda , is the major language of Uganda, spoken by over sixteen million Ganda and other people mainly in Southern Uganda, including the capital Kampala. It belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger–Congo language family...
- Luo
- MacedonianMacedonian languageMacedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
- MalagasyMalagasy languageMalagasy is the national language of Madagascar, a member of the Austronesian family of languages. Most people in Madagascar speak it as a first language as do some people of Malagasy descent elsewhere.-History:...
- MalayalamMalayalam languageMalayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
- MalaysianMalaysian languageMalaysian or Standard Malay is the official language of Malaysia and a standardized form of the Malay language of the Austronesian family. It is over 80% cognate with Indonesian and is spoken natively by over 10 million people...
- MaranaoMaranao languageMaranao is an Austronesian language spoken by the Maranao people in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur in the Philippines.-External links:*, Maranao Dictionary...
- MarathiMarathi languageMarathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
- MarshalleseMarshallese languageThe Marshallese language is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Marshall Islands, and the principal language of the country...
- MiskitoMiskito languageMiskito is a Misumalpan language spoken by the Miskito people in northeastern Nicaragua, especially in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, and in eastern Honduras....
- MongolianMongolian languageThe Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...
- Mortlockese
- Naga
- Nahua
- NepaliNepali languageNepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
- OriyaOriya languageOriya , officially Odia from November, 2011, is an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. It is mainly spoken in the Indian states of Orissa and West Bengal...
- Oshivambo
- PashtoPashto languagePashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
- PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
- Pilipino
- PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
- Pulas
- Quechua
- RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
- Sepedi
- SerbianSerbian languageSerbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
- Sgawkaren
- ShanShan languageThe Shan language is the native language of Shan people and spoken mostly in Shan State, Burma. It is also used in pockets of Kachin State in Burma, in northern Thailand, and in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. Shan is a member of the Tai–Kadai language family, and...
- ShuarJivaroan languagesJivaroan is a small language family, or perhaps a language isolate, of northern Peru and eastern Ecuador.-Family division:Jivaroan consists of 4 languages:-Genetic relations:...
- SindhiSindhi languageSindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...
- Sinhala
- SomaliSomali languageThe Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
- Sotho
- SwahiliSwahili languageSwahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
- TagalogTagalog languageTagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
- TamilTamil languageTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
- TeluguTelugu languageTelugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
- TetumTetum languageTetum is an Austronesian language, a national language and one of the two official languages of East Timor. It is also used in parts of West Timor that adjoin East Timor, particularly in Belu Regency...
- ThaiThai languageThai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
- TibetanTibetan languageThe Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
- TigrinyaTigrinya languageTigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrnia, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two main languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia , where it...
- TsongaTsonga languageThe Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan.- Classification :Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger–Congo languages...
- TswanaTswana languageTswana or Setswana is a language spoken in Southern Africa by about 4.5 million people. It is a Bantu language belonging to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S , and is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi...
- TurkishTurkish languageTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
- TzotzilTzotzil languageTzotzil is a Maya language spoken by the indigenous Tzotzil Maya people in the Mexican state of Chiapas. According to an INEGI 2005 census, there are 329,937 speakers of Tzotzil in Mexico, making it the 6th most spoken indigenous language in the country...
- UkhrulUkhrulUkhrul is a town in Ukhrul district in the state of Manipur, India. It is the administrative headquarter of the Ukhrul district. There are also four Sub-Divisions in the district for administering the villages in and around it. The villages however are govern by the 'Church' and the 'Village...
- Urdu
- UzbekUzbek languageUzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 25.5 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia...
- VendaVenda languageVenda, also known as or , is a Bantu language and an official language of South Africa. The majority of Venda speakers live in the northern part of South Africa's Limpopo Province, but about 10% of speakers live in Zimbabwe. The Venda language is related to Kalanga which is spoken in Botswana...
- WolofWolof languageWolof is a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family...
- XhosaXhosa languageXhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said...
- YorubaYoruba languageYorùbá is a Niger–Congo language spoken in West Africa by approximately 20 million speakers. The native tongue of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and in communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas...
- ZuluZulu languageZulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...