About Indonesian Language
According to Wikipedia.org, Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. It belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch while the standard dialect is Malay. When Indonesia became independent they declared Indonesian as their official language in 1945. Indonesian is spoken by 23 million people while it is the second language of 140 million people. As most Indonesians are bilingual they know more than three languages. Besides Indonesia, this language is also spoken in the Netherlands, the Philippines, and Singapore. Several dialects are spoken in various areas. The northern dialect is known as Malay while the southern dialect is most commonly spoken in Indonesia. There are regional dialects that are spoken in both north and south of Indonesia. It consists of six vowels but the sound system is similar to Malay.
About Shona Language
According to Wikipedia.org, Shona is a Bantu language and is spoken by the Shona people of Zimbabwe. The language was codified by the colonial government and became popular during the 1950s. According to Ethnologue, the language was spoken in the Zezuru, Korekore, and Karanga dialects. It is spoken by 7.5 million people. Shona has Manyika and Ndau dialects and is spoken by 1,025,000 and 2,380,000 people. It is called Shona and is similar to the Ndau (Eastern Shona) and Karanga (Western Shona). Shona is a written standard language and became popular in the early 20th century. In the 1920s, the Rhodesian administration offered schoolbooks and other materials in Shona. The first novel in Shona was published in 1957. It is taught in the schools and has literature in the monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. The Standard Shona has a specific dialect and is spoken by the Karanga people of Masvingo Province. Shona dialects are taught in local schools.
