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91¸£ÀûÉç World Service and 91¸£ÀûÉç College of Journalism have launched four additional journalism language guides. Journalists across Africa now have access to 91¸£ÀûÉç resources in Hausa, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, Portuguese and Somali, which help them navigate common difficulties and advise on ways to maintain impartiality while reporting in these languages.

These resources draw on the rich experience and expertise that 91¸£ÀûÉç journalists have built up over many years of reporting.

Available to journalists and general public via micro-sites on bbchausa.com, bbcgreatlakes.com, bbcparaafrica.com and bbcsomali.com, the new guides use multiple media to offer experts' views on the use of impartial language.

The guides identify "loaded" words, advise on how to unify new terminology and pronunciation and, where relevant, instruct on nuances of language when broadcasting to more than one country in the same language.

Each guide focuses on issues that are of key relevance for the language in question.

91¸£ÀûÉç Hausa's Sulaiman Ibrahim, who wrote a detailed guide on translation from and into Hausa, feels, for example, that it is important to be able to choose the correct term of address when reporting in Hausa: "Knowing how to address a man, an older man, a religious figure or a politician, without jeopardising impartiality, is crucial."

Sulaiman also notes that spelling is of special importance in Hausa, a language rich in homonymous words.

91¸£ÀûÉç Para Africa (91¸£ÀûÉç Portuguese for Africa) has created a rich content on style, impartial writing, independence and pronunciation.

The service's language expert, Filipe Correia De Sa, comments: "As we broadcast to Portuguese-speaking Africa, we have always felt a need for a place where we could gather our linguistic knowledge and where we could also reflect and register all the innovations and additions that occur within the living language. We believe that our guide will contribute to the integration and standardisation of the written form of the Portuguese language."

Somali is spoken, in various dialects, in at least three countries.

Head of 91¸£ÀûÉç Somali, Yusuf Garaad Omar, comments on the Somali journalism guide: "Journalists reporting in the Somali language need to pay special attention to avoiding words that are only understood in one particular region. Using clichés is another issue we focus on in our guide, as their abuse has a very negative effect on perception."

91¸£ÀûÉç Great Lakes broadcasts in Kinyarwanda, mainly spoken in Rwanda, and Kirundi, widely spoken in Burundi.

Editor of 91¸£ÀûÉç Great Lakes, Kinyarwanda-speaking Ally Yusufu Mugenzi, says: "The region we are broadcasting to has seen genocide, with language being one of the key markers of people's ethnic identity. It is still absolutely vital for journalists in this region to understand how to use independent language, so as not to be targets of any hostility."

Kirundi-speaking producer, Florentine Kwizera, believes that 91¸£ÀûÉç Great Lakes has played an important role in the creation of impartial terminology: "Our guide can become a reference point for other journalists working in these languages."

Najiba Kasraee, who manages the joint 91¸£ÀûÉç College of Journalism – 91¸£ÀûÉç World Service project, says: "Knowing all the rules about impartiality and independence is integral to 91¸£ÀûÉç journalism. 91¸£ÀûÉç World Service delivers programmes and services in 32 languages and tailored for various regions, and it's of utmost importance to our journalists to know how these rules apply in the territories they broadcast to. We have now launched 23 language guides, and we are delighted to be able to share these great resources with colleagues across the globe."

91¸£ÀûÉç World Service Publicity