Publications > The Gateway Languages Strategy

The Gateway Languages Strategy

The Gateway Languages Strategy is a missiological model that leverages 21st century opportunities to provide all content, training, and tools needed for effective translation of biblical content in the smallest number of Languages of Wider Communication that covers 100% of the languages spoken collectively by the global Church through patterns of multilingualism.

The Gateway Languages Strategy whitepaper (version 2) is available here:

The Gateway Languages List

Revision: 25

Currently, there are 44 known gateway languages, and research is ongoing for languages in Eastern Europe (mostly affecting the Roma people group), various Arabic variants, and sub-saharan African trade languages. (Note that, due to their different characteristics, Sign Languages are not covered in this strategy.)

Research is still ongoing to determine the complete number of gateway languages. Please contact us if you have updated information. Thank you!

English (en)
Portuguese (pt-BR)
Spanish (es-419)

Amharic (am)
French (fr)
Fulfulde (ff)
Hausa (ha)
Malagasy Plateau (plt)
Swahili (sw)

Burmese (my)
Cebuano (ceb)
Ilocano (ilo)
Khmer (km)
Laotian (lo)
Malaysian (ms)
Mandarin (zh)
Tagalog (tl)
Thai (th)
Vietnamese (vi)

Hungarian (hu)
Russian (ru)
Croatian (hr)

Arabic (ar)
Pashto (ps)
Persian (fa)
Urdu (ur)

Bislama (bi)
Indonesian (id)
Papuan Malay (pmy)
Tok Pisin (tpi)

Assamese (as)
Bengali (bn)
Gujarati (gu)
Hindi (hi)
Kannada (kn)
Malayalam (ml)
Marathi (mr)
Nagamese (nag)
Nepali (ne)
Oriya (or)
Punjabi (pa)
Tamil (ta)
Telugu (te)
Urdu, Devanagari script (ur-Deva)

Changelog

revisions:

  • 25: removed Serbo-Croatian (scr) and replaced with Croatian (hr). Added MENA-Pak as separate region from Eurasia.
  • 24: added Hungarian (hu), Serbo-Croatian (scr), and Malagasy Plateau (plt).
  • 23: proposed additions to list that were rejected: Dzongkha (dz), Igbo (ig), Yoruba (yo), Hungarian (hu), Serbo-Croatian (scr); proposed additions to list that were classified as Priority OLs: West Punjabi (pa), Oromo (om), Mandarin COV (cmn-x-omc); proposed additions that were accepted: Fulfulde (ff), Nagamese (nag), Urdu-Deva (ur-Deva); removed from list: Hindi DCV (hi-x-dcv), Tetum (tet), Spanish (es), Portuguese (pt); removed from GL list and classified as Priority OLs: Turkish (tr), Solomon Islands Pidgin (pis), Banjar (bjn), Ambon Malay (abs), Manado Malay/Bahasa Manado (xmm), Kaliledo (Ledo Kaililew), Toraja (sda), Maleyu (mgl), Kupang (mkn), Mongolian (mn).
  • 22: added Tagalog (tl).
  • 21: removed Tagalog (tl); added Ilocano (ilo); removed all Dominant Culture Variants from GL list, based on assumption that languages dependent on the GL can generate DCV translations from a non-DCV source.
  • 20: from 49 to 48; removed Afrikaans (af); moved Arabic (ar, ar-x-dcv) from Africa to Eurasia region.
  • 19: from 43 to 49; removed Dutch (nl), Japanese (ja); added Papua Malay (pmy), Ambon Malay (abs), Bahasa Manado (xmm), Kaliledo (lew), Toraja (sda), Banjar (bjn), Maleyu (mgl), Kupang (mkn).
  • 18: from 44 to 43; removed Dari (prs).
  • 17: from 46 to 44; removed sign languages due to factors suggesting incompatibility with this strategy.

The Gateway Language Manual

The Gateway Language Manual is for the use of translators and checkers of the Gateway Language resources.

Stories From the Field

  • Hope in harrowing times

    • February 21, 2024

    As the world worries over the horrific events in Israel and mullahs call for global jihad, a hopeful fact remains. The more Islamists promote jihad, the more average Muslims are open to the gospel. In...

  • Trust God and Get Going

    • September 11, 2023

    “God, this is your journey, your work. Please help us get out of here.” Let’s imagine that your family and close friends have a passing acquaintance with the message of Jesus, and some might even be b...

  • Critical Tools for Courageous Translators

    • August 03, 2023

    The global demand for Bible translation far exceeds the capacity of existing Bible translation agencies. Doing translation in dangerous places makes it doubly difficult. That’s why members of the illu...

  • Meesha's Story

    • July 03, 2023

    In the Republic of Iran, for the church to be planted, discipled, and grown, more than 60 people groups need a Bible translation in their own language. May was Iran’s bloodiest month in the last five...

  • UKRAINE: Bomb Shelter Bible Translation

    • July 03, 2023

    Ukrainian Great Commission partners are translating unfoldingWord’s suite of Bible translation tools to make God’s Word accessible to more than 540 languages spoken across the countries of the former ...

  • All 27 New Testament Book Packages Complete

    • August 08, 2023

    It used to take western experts at least 20 years to translate the New Testament into a Bible-less language. Now, every bilingual church-planting network has access to the open-license English tools t...

  • Making God's Word Accessible to Ordinary People

    • September 11, 2023

    Sofia Ivanov speaks on the impact of unfoldingWord’s Bible Translation tools  Editor’s Note: Sofia Ivanov* is a project manager for unfoldingWord’s Eurasian Whole Bible, Whole Nation partner. Her thou...

  • Saved While Escaping

    • October 02, 2023

    “I was a terrible husband for the first fifteen years of our marriage. Every weekend, I would get drunk, abuse my wife, and ridicule her. We mistreated each other terribly,” said Siroos. “But God amaz...

  • Man on the Run

    • July 03, 2023

    Asim* serves on the Bible translation audio-video team for unfoldingWord’s Whole Bible, Whole Nation partner in Sudan. They use Bible translation as part of their church-planting strategy for 133 unre...

  • Ten Times Faster

    • March 14, 2023

    Imagine you are ordering a new internet connection or cable TV or maybe something new from Amazon and you get the message saying, “Your town is too remote and we can’t serve your area at this time. We...

  • Meet Amy & Priscilla

    • March 14, 2023

    unfoldingWord operates as a catalyst for the Church-Centric Bible Translation movement. We collaborate as part of the body of Christ to develop and implement strategies and unrestricted biblical resou...

  • Jeremiah and the Occult King

    • May 04, 2023

    When Jeremiah* first heard that his Chadian church-planting network needed his help translating unfoldingWord® Open Bible Stories (OBS), he was skeptical. “I thought Bible stories were for children, l...

  • The Exponential Journey

    • April 10, 2023

    Khartoum, Sudan, April 2021. I was sitting in a small hotel conference room with the leaders of Greater Reach Alliance and half a dozen representatives of unreached Sudanese people groups. We were ta...

  • Chad's Unreached Receive the Gospel with Joy!

    • June 05, 2023

    “Giving Jesus to any human being is the best gift you can give to that person. Only the gospel can change the ugliness of man,” says Jeremiah,* one of the Chadian leaders of CCGP,* unfoldingWord’s chu...

  • Iran: Bibles in every language

      ...

    • Escape from Kharkiv

      • June 13, 2022

      BAM! A rocket penetrates a building, shattering windows and shaking foundations. Clatter! Bomb debris splatters cars, building façades, and adjacent roofs. Bang-Bang-Bang! The jackhammer staccato of A...

    • Innovation in Bible Translation

      • March 13, 2023

      unfoldingWord catalyzes innovation in Bible translation. Your gifts and prayers are enabling remarkable new developments! One of those is happening in a state in Asia. It began with translationCore. ...

    • Breakthrough in Chad

      • July 04, 2022

      Three churches were birthed when a local chieftain, who formerly combined Islam and the occult, came to Christ. In the another community, new believers were baptized, and two new churches were planted...

    • OVERCOMING the ODDS for 300,000 PEOPLE

      • April 06, 2022

      The challenge Pastor Manish was facing seemed insurmountable. His 300,000-member South Asian mountain people group desperately needs Scripture in the language they understand best. Pastor Manish, an e...

    • Ruska Roma celebrate first Scripture in their language

      • September 20, 2021

      EASTERN UKRAINE — To Stephen K., holding a Ruska Roma translation of 3 John means more than a chance to celebrate with his Roma friends. It’s the answer to 10 years of prayer.  In April, a team of fou...