Installing and Using Amharic Software in Windows 7

Microsoft recently released Windows 7, which included Amharic and many other African languages. I did cover that story in my post, entitled, “Microsoft to Release Windows 7 in Amharic, Ethiopian National Language, and Nine Other African Languages“, which you can read by clicking here.

I have not upgraded to Windows 7 yet, so I don’t have a personal experience to write my own review on how the system works and how good or bad it is.

Because many people have shown a great deal of interest in the Amharic system, I did a little bit of research and have found the following information:

Professor Ephraim Isaac Extends his Greetings, Appeals for Unity of All Ethiopians

The year 2009 is now behind us. What a year it was! We witnessed many dramatic events in the last year around the world, Ethiopia included. Some events were very sad, some very stupid and some needed to happen.

Now, we must accept the year 2010 with great appreciation and positive outlook. The New Year celebration has triggered an Ethiopian Harvard Professor Ephraim Isaac to appeal to all Ethiopians …

He asks, “Why are we stuck on the philosophical values of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Marx? Why not respect and uphold the teachings of peace and reconciliation of our own wise teachers like, Zar’a Ya’aqob, Kristos Samra, Abba Gedas, and others?”

Microsoft to Release Windows 7 in Amharic, Ethiopian National Language, and Nine Other African Languages

Ethiopia, the second most populous nation in Africa (after Nigeria) has a population of 80 million this year (2009). There are 84 languages (these are totally different languages) and more than 200 dialects in Ethiopia. However, Amharic remains Ethiopia’s national language. It is estimated that 50% of the population speak Amharic (as first language and second language speakers).

Although Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world, its languages did not develop fully to express scientific words and phrases. Many attempts to translate text books into Amharic failed miserably.

So, English remains the primary business language of Ethiopia; and all subjects are taught in English from grade 7 and above, including colleges and universities.

Until recently, Geez fonts were not available in Microsoft Office packages. We had to buy and download the fonts from Ethiopian programmers’ websites. The idea of buying Geez fonts has made me very upset over the years. Mind you … when all the rich nations were getting free fonts, but poor Ethiopians, other Africans and Asians were subjected to really expensive charges just to get fonts.

Happy Ethiopian New Year to All

Happy New Year to All Ethiopians!

Tomorrow, September 11, 2009, will be the Ethiopian New Year (Enqutatash in Amharic) or R’ise Awde Amet (Head Anniversary) in the ancient language of Ethiopia, Geez.

Yes, September 11, 2009 will be the first day of the first month of the year 2002. Ethiopia is about 7 years, 3 months and 20 days behind the official Gregorian Calendar in use in North America, Europe, and most countries around the world. Ethiopia has 13 months in a year; 12 months of 30 days each, with the 13th month having only 5 days (6 days in a leap year, which takes place every 4 years).