In Guatemala today, there are approximately 20 Mayan languages, many of which have a number of distinct dialects. Native speakers of Mayan languages account for more than half of Guatemala's population (most of these people are monolingual), while the rest speak Spanish as a second language with varying degrees of proficiency. Historically, education and development programs have been carried out almost exclusively in Spanish. There has never been a formal training program to provide Mayan speakers with the basic technical preparation they need to work competently, creatively, and independently in their own languages in education, development, and the production of written materials.