It is a very significant fact that the first memorandum issued by the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures should be devoted to Practical Orthography, for in no branch of African study is there such diversity of practice as in the orthography of the languages. Moreover it is probably no exaggeration to say that, inasmuch as the reading and writing of his language form the Native's first step in education, no question is of greater urgency than this matter of presenting the written language in a way that shall be logically satisfactory.