The art of speaking, writing, and reading are integral to everyday life, where language is the primary tool for expression and communication. It can reflect sophistication by expressing society, lifestyle, phenomena, and culture.
One of the oldest languages in Ethiopia is Geez, a language spoken by Agazians, where their origin is obscured in time. Ge’ez manuscripts and historical documents form most of our understanding of our past, making preserving this treasure crucial.
But through time, the language became extinct, leaving behind the wisdom of our ancestors. On a governmental level, some efforts are being made to maintain and expand knowledge of the language.
Scholars indicate the best mechanism for teaching this language intensively using different instruments. But in recent events, entrepreneurs are leading the language digitally and making it accessible for many.
One innovative digital application is HaHu Script, a beginner and children-friendly mobile application that teaches Ge’ez alphabets for children and adults alike. With well-curated content, in high quality, entertaining, interactive, and gamified.
The application has gamified 238 Ge’ez/Amharic alphabets, with a vision to digitize and gamify East- African languages at a time. Making them available for millions regardless of their location.
“The primary market is children and communities who are disconnected from formal education. Some examples of these groups are, Children born in the diaspora, refugees, internally displaced people, and children in urban areas impacted by the pandemic.” mentioned Nigist Goytom, founder of HaHu Scripts.
Ethiopia has a very low literacy rate. According to the World Bank, In 2018, 7o pc of all children and youth will not finish primary education. And the country’s literacy rate stood at 51.8 pc. That means almost 1 in 2 people do not know how to read and write.
“It is such a shocking number, especially in the digital age where education could be made available for millions easily. We found out that there are very few quality and beginner/children-friendly digital tools for East-African languages and scripts. That is why we created HaHu Scripts.”
“Haha script has future developments planned, all of which depend on funding. For example, we would like to include many languages in our system. We are currently working on Tigrigna and Amharic, but Guragigna and other languages using the Ge’ez are also our focus. Consequently, instead of English translations, we would like to add Afaan Oromoo, Somali, and other Latin languages into our system. These are just a few of the things we would like to achieve.” Nigist told Addis Insight.
The App makes basic literacy and early education accessible, on your hand, no matter your location. With a vast addressable market, the platforms provided are limited, with a considerable gap to fill.
“There are some competitors, but none of which are beginner-friendly. One has to start from zero for children and youth who are completely detached from the culture and schooling possibilities. And our product puts that into consideration. Anyone above four can use it without any initial educational foundation. On top of that, it is straightforward to use and appealing. It has gamified and interactive features that allow our users to practice writing by actually writing on the screen. I believe we are the first app ever to do that for all Ge’ez alphabets.”
Customers have responded positively to the app; it increases exponentially with a high rating on platforms like Android and IOS.
Website: www.hahugames.com
