On January 2nd Scratch 3.0 was released by MIT Media Lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten Program. This newest version of Scratch comes with some amazing new features:
- an update to the user interface which includes a single, scrollable code menu,
- the addition of Google Translate and text to speech, and
- micro:bit support to the Extensions code.
I made a small remix to celebrate Scratch 3.0…and also the release of Scratch in Amharic translation!
Over two years ago in Addis Ababa I worked with a great teacher named Leulseged Assefa to organize a group of student volunteers to begin the work of translating from English to Amharic. The progress was slow but steady and was chronicled on the ECIS TID blog (At the Intersection of Language, Culture, and Code) and also in the April issue of The International Educator (ICS Addis and MIT Translate Scratch Into Amharic).
I am grateful to these great students for their work and proud that Scratch is now even more accessible to young people in Ethiopia and around the globe.
Aaron Tyo-Dickerson 