Code in Your Language: Why Programming Belongs to Everyone
Description
96% of the world doesn't think in English. Yet almost every programming course does. We're changing that. Madi's Legesher technology. Frank's accredited Python courses. Bianca's community-centred Montessori approach. Together they remove the double burden that stops talented people before they start — and replace it with something radical: the chance to code, qualify, and build, entirely in the language you think in.
96% of the world are non-native English speakers
7,000+ languages spoken across the world
4 language packs being co-designed in this project
This is not just a technical problem. It is a justice problem. Language is identity. When the tools of the digital economy are built exclusively in one language, entire communities are excluded from the conversation — and from the future being built without them.
"Legesher is a bridge between the words we speak and the code we write, allowing creation, education, innovation and collaboration to not be lost in translation."
— Madi Edgar, Founder, Legesher
5% native english speakers, 390 million people
~20% total english speakers, 1.5 billion people
80% of the world does not speak english, 6.156 billion people
(*based on Ethnologue's people demographics of 7.684 billion people, 7,170 living languages, 87% literate, 430 million deaf)
Legesher is an open source collection of native-language developer tools designed for education, innovation, and collaboration.
Now, in partnership with Code Division and NomadAlba Collective, Legesher is embarking on a co-design project to build language packs and wraparound resources for an introduction to programming for Schools and Colleges and anyone wishing to learn to code with a focus on four underrepresented languages — beginning with communities right here in Scotland and Europe.
The four languages we are starting with:
Scottish Gaelic - Gàidhlig
Irish Gaelic - Gaeilge
Arabic - العربية
Ukrainian - Українська
These languages represent communities who face compounded barriers to digital inclusion — through heritage language erosion, displacement, and underrepresentation in the global tech sector. This project begins here, and grows with you.
What you will take from this session:
The story behind Legesher and the vision for a world where code is truly multilingual — told by the person who built it
An introduction to the co-design project and how Legesher, Code Division and NomadAlba are building language packs together with communities
An understanding of what the Empathy Jam is — a design thinking event in December that puts language speakers, educators, and developers in the same room to shape the future of multilingual coding
Your invitation to be part of it — whether you are a heritage language speaker, a developer, an educator, or someone who simply believes the digital world should belong to everyoneComputer programming, as a global discipline, is predominantly English-based. Yet only 4% of the world's population are native English speakers. That means 96% of people on earth are asked to learn one of the most complex technical disciplines — in a language that is not their own.
This session is for you if you are a…
Speaker of Scottish or Irish Gaelic
Arabic speaker
Ukrainian speaker
Heritage language learner
Educator or curriculum lead
Developer or technologist
Diaspora community member
Cultural organisation
Digital inclusion advocate
No coding experience is required. This session is about possibility, not prerequisites.
What's on offer (Next steps)
Empathy Jam A structured community workshop where we listen before we build. Real voices shape every course we create — before a single resource is written.
Hackathon A time-boxed community coding challenge where teams solve real problems in their own language. Same challenge. Four languages. One celebration of cognitive diversity.
Course Delivery — September 2026 Two SQA-accredited Python courses, fully localised into four languages, ready to deliver online and in-person from September 2026. Real qualifications. Your language. Your community.
Teach the Teacher We train educators from within your language community to deliver accredited Python courses themselves. Your teachers. Your language. Lasting capacity built from the inside.
Your hosts
Madi Edgar: Founder, Legesher
The visionary behind Legesher — an open source platform giving developers worldwide the tools to code in their native language. Madi built Legesher to answer a simple question: why should the language you were born into determine whether you can participate in the digital economy?
Frank Duffy: Founder, Code Division
Digital skills specialist and co-designer of the language pack project, bringing technical expertise and a deep commitment to expanding who gets to be a developer.
Bianca Peel: Founder and Director, NomadAlba Collective
Holistic learning designer and social enterprise leader working at the intersection of human skills, community wealth building, and linguistic and cultural identity in Scotland.
Your language belongs in the future of tech. Come help build it.
Register your free place now. Attendees who sign up at the session will receive priority access to the December Empathy Jam — the co-design event where the real work begins.
This event is co-hosted by Legesher, Code Division, and NomadAlba Collective as part of an ongoing partnership to advance multilingual digital inclusion.
Lineup
Madi Edgar
Founder, Legesher - The visionary behind Legesher — an open source platform giving developers worldwide the tools to code in their native language. Madi built Legesher to answer a simple question: why should the language you were born into determine whether you can participate in the digital economy? " Hi, I'm Madi, I empower others to grow more, do more, and become more. My passion for developing impactful, innovative solutions is fueled by unifying the stories of others. With my diverse background in industries and experiences I have always found a desire to be a catalyst for transformational change. I currently use my platform to hack the glass ceilings for other women and minorities through education, mentoring, speaking at conferences, and teaching workshops to universities and businesses."
Frank Duffy
Founder, Code Division - Digital skills specialist and co-designer of the language pack project, bringing technical expertise and a deep commitment to expanding who gets to be a developer. Frank Duffy has spent over 20 years teaching programming and technology — in schools, colleges, and universities — and one question has followed him throughout: why do the same people always get left behind? That question led him to found Code Division, a Scottish social enterprise and Qualifications Scotland awarding body that has supported over 1,000 learners across six years. Most of them are women. Many are refugees. A significant number come from minority ethnic communities. Almost all had been failed or overlooked by the mainstream skills system before they walked through Code Division's door. "Hi I'm Frank. I've worked at every level of qualification design — from individual SQA programming units to a full MA programme for New College Lanarkshire and the work-based learning strand of the Graduate Apprentice Software Development programme at the University of Strathclyde. He has contributed to frameworks and units with SQA and Qualifications Scotland that are now used by centres across the country, including the very units that underpin Code Division's own Python and data programmes. Yet what really drives me is simpler than any of that. I believe that experience is knowledge, that practical skills deserve proper recognition, and that a qualification framework should be a ladder — not a wall." Frank is funny, direct, occasionally opinionated, and genuinely passionate about the people he works with. Come along and hear why he thinks the skills system needs to do better — and what that actually looks like in practice.
Bianca Peel
Founder and Director, NomadAlba Collective - a Scottish social enterprise working at the intersection of human skills development, trauma-informed wellbeing, and community wealth building. "Hi I'm Bianca, Born in South Africa to Scottish and Irish parents, I have lived and worked across Europe, the USA, and Australia before finding home in Helensburgh, Scotland. My career spans English language teaching and teacher education, Montessori pedagogy, STEAM and sustainability learning design, and creative arts therapy.I have served as Sustainability Learning Advisor for The Ocean Race and SEL and Human Skills External Expert for Future Focus 21c, and I am a co-founder of the Future Skills Pathways consortium. My passion for education and life long learning encompassed a collection of qualifications in Language Education for 11+, Montessori & Early Years Education 3-6, and Master Practitioner in Holistic Art Therapy (MPHAT). I also serve on international platforms including being a HundrED.org SEL Education Ambassador and Advisory Board Member and UN CSW69 Delegate, and bring decades of practice rooted in equity, empathy, and a deep belief in the transformative power of human skills. There is nothing soft about the essentials."
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