SIL International

Language Development and Translation Programs - SIL works with over 1,300 communities worldwide impacting more than one billion speakers as they build their capacity for sustainable development with their own languages. Language development involves ongoing planned actions that a language community takes to ensure that its language continues to serve its changing social, cultural, political, economic, and spiritual needs and goals. SIL's expertise includes training and consulting in linguistic analysis, orthography and writing systems development, literature development including translation and mother tongue-based multilingual education and literacy. SIL publishes Ethnologue, an authoritative resource on world languages, referencing more than 7,000 languages. Continue on Schedule O.

Training in Language Development and Multilingual Education - SIL offers technical expertise and training to support the decisions of both local and diaspora communities about how to maintain their cultures and use their languages in new ways to address their changing needs. To do this, SIL advocates and builds capacity for mother tongue-based multilingual education programs that help students learn effectively through both their home languages and other languages. In addition to working with communities at the local level, SIL is an acknowledged leader in formal academic programs for the components of cross-cultural language-based service. SIL works in partnership with more than 25 institutions around the world to offer classroom and online training in applied linguistics and related subjects.

Logistics - SIL works with non-dominant language communities who may reside in remote locations. It is often necessary for SIL to provide services to its staff that are unavailable in the local economy, such as housing, schools for dependent children, communications services, transportation, health care and access to food and supplies.