It offers lessons for second-language students, a vocabulary guide for tourists and even some Xhosa poetry. Further north, Zimsite has been established by a group of young Zimbabweans. Most of its content is in English but there is a section devoted to traditional Shona names and humour written in the vernacular. Swahili is another African language that has made a splash on the Web with Majira , a daily online newspaper, Rai , a weekly and a forum on Africa Online where Web surfers can chat in Swahili. There's even a Swahili translation of the Qur'an .
Most vernacular websites are either online translators or dictionaries.
Ironically many, like the English to Xhosa Translator are based in the United States. Nevertheless it's very handy if you need some simple translation done. Few sites appear completely in the vernacular. Perhaps not surprisingly, even more websites that deal with an African language are presented entirely in a Western one, usually English or French. The Yoruba language of Nigeria has its own site but the content is completely in English, as is the related Isokan Yoruba Magazine.