First Albanian-Serbian Online Dictionary Launched in Kosovo

The online dictionary, which was published on Thursday in Pristina, contains 40,000 words and was presented as a tool for young Kosovo Albanians and Serbs to learn other's language, which they have not done in schools since the break-up of Yugoslavia.

"Language barriers prevent communities from exercising their human rights and freedoms by creating a kind of mistrust," Zahir Tanin, the head of the UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, said at the launch.

Tanin added that language barriers also prevent communication between people of different communities in everyday life and can hinder their access to public services.

The publication of the dictionary is part of a broader programme led by the International Organisation for Migration, in cooperation with the Kosovo government's Language Commissioner, the British Embassy in Pristina and UNMIK to support activities to promote multilingualism and the importance of language-learning.

The project includes the development of the online language-learning platform VocUp and free language classes.

The British ambassador to Pristina, Nicholas Abbott, stressed the importance that language has in relations between the country's ethnic communities.

"It is obvious that youth in Kosovo should speak and understand each other and work together for the benefit of Kosovo. Understanding each other is the only way to bringing progress," Abbott said.

Albanian and Serbian are the two official languages of Kosovo. Other languages like Turkish and Roma are in official use in municipalities in which the people who speak them make up at least five per cent of the local population.

The Kosovo government's Language Commissioner, Slavisa Mladenovic, said that two decades after the war it is difficult to...

Continue reading on: