Manufahi 25/07/2024, Timor-Leste National Commission for UNESCO (TLNCU), in collaboration with the Secretary of State for Arts and Culture, held a seminar in the village of Foholau and Orana in the post administrative of Turiscai municipality in Manufahi. The seminar discusses local history in the ISNI language; this program is a program from TLNCU working with the Secretary of State for Arts and Culture to preserve the local language.
Language is one of the main cultural elements within the community. Language is needed to communicate with one another and to add insight, ideas, beliefs, and traditions from generation to generation. It is therefore very important to have recognition of the state, existence, and sustainability of these languages. Although this language is very important in the world, including in Timor-Leste, some have started to lose their preservation research. The ISNI language is also a part that is not collected in the community in the village of 2, such as Fatulao and Orana, where the ISNI language will be collected through the work of the TLNCU culture division, which will conduct a survey of the data history of the ISNI language in writing books. The data is taken from the community, as the elderly or traditional leader who knows the history of the ISNI language will tell the story, and the team will write and reconcile the data.
The objective of this activity is to create a vocabulary from the local language as a reference for the elaboration of the local language dictionary. Facilitate the protection and promotion of cultural heritage (material and belonging to the language community), bring students and youth to know their own culture and traditions by accessing publications on oral stories that are likely to be available in schools and libraries, and write oral traditions in ISNI and TETUN to facilitate understanding of students. The Executive Secretary of TLNCU, the administrator of the tourist post, village chiefs, elderly or traditional leader, communities attended the activity.
