UMTHOMBO WOBUNTU ACADEMY PTY (LTD)

Our Africanness!

When Dr. Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected president on 10 May 1994, he urged the people of South Africa to learn each other’s languages. This, he said, would be “the best way to contribute to nation building and reconciliation”.

UMTHOMBO WOBUNTU ACADEMY is aimed at imparting the gift of languages to other language speakers, and to provide other language services that are vital to our human interaction such translation, interpreting, transcription, subtitling and localization.

UMTHOMBO WOBUNTU ACADEMY is a South African based black-owned company which is 75% black women owned and 25% owned by black men. The managing director, Mr Sonwabile Mayekiso has been in the language profession for more than 28 years now, both as a language practitioner, educator and e-learning facilitator.

Prior establishing UMTHOMBO WOBUNTU ACADEMY, Sonwabile has worked for various international publishing organizations full time and as a freelancer. He also worked with the Western Cape Education Department as a Language Director in the development of e-Learning material for Teacher and Learner Support Material (LTSM) team within Khanya
ICT Project. He has also worked for ASSITEJ SA (a South African chapter of an international theatre organization for young children and youth) as a National Project Manager where due to his diligence and enthusiasm, this organization got Naledi Awards in 2012. From there, he worked with a Canada based NGO called Education without Borders (EwB) where he worked as a Programme Manager in the township primary and high schools.

Our team is comprised of full time remote freelancers that are spread accross the country who have been in this profession for many years.

LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LANGUAGE COACHING

We teach South African languages to other language speakers from local and international. We have the best language teachers who did languages as their speciality in the universities. As a results, many of our our former students from abroad are fluent in speaking isiXhosa and isiZulu. For example, currently we are working with some of the students from abroad who are studying isiXhosa constructions and structures. We also offer language coaching for students who are struggling in isiXhosa or isiZulu who are in the English medium schools. We do this through personal contact or via virtual platforms like Zoom or Skype.

TRANSLATION

Dr. Nelson Mandela once said: "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own langauge, that goes to his heart". Therefore, the importance of having your thoughts, ideas and aspirations translated cannot be over emphasized.

INTERPRETING

Our interpreters enable communication between two or more people to take place effectively for those who are unable to understand each other because they don't speak the same language.

EDITING AND PROOFREADING

Our editing removes errors, improves your work flow, and enhances your language and style. Why would your writing not benefit from a little TLC? Editing is crucial for fixing the last few problems with your writing to make it ready to go out into the world and be read. Proofreading a piece of work after it's been written helps to ensure that it's error-free and checked to a high standard. Without proofreading, there's a chance that errors remain in the work. Someone else that is reading the work will likely spot the errors, and the work is then seen as lesser because of these errors

TRANSCRIPTION

If you want to analyze your interviews and include them in your research, it is necessary to transcribe your interviews. A written transcription allows you to quote the interviewee exactly, and even cut-and-paste specific sections into other documents. More accurate records can help you prove a specific outlook, emphasize a particular point, or provide better context for your findings.

SUBTITLING

Subtitles make videos, TV shows, and dramas more accessible to a wider audience, including foreign-language speakers, hard-of-hearing individuals, and anyone who can't watch a video with sound. They also help improve engagement and boost SEO for content producers

LOCALIZATION

Localizing your content will show your commitment to your customers. If you're addressing your customer's needs in a way they understand and are comfortable with, they're more likely to buy your product or service.

  • Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
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