SIL

The purpose of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is to work with language communities worldwide to facilitate language-based development through research, translation and literacy. SIL International is a non-profit, scientific, educational organization of Christian volunteers that specializes in serving the lesser-known language communities of the world. Its members live among the people of these communities while seeking to understand their cultures and learn their languages. SIL specializes in the application of linguistic research to the literacy and translation needs of the minority language community. In partnership with these communities, SIL helps in development of skills and capacity so that they can preserve their cultures and languages in a way that serves the people best.