Newsletter, February 2013: four ways to support endangered languages on Mother Language Day

Dear friends, colleagues and supporters,

Happy International Mother Language Day from everyone at Living Tongues Institute.

Today, February 21, Dr. K. David Harrison is featured on the Daily Edventures blog.

“Celebrate the cultural diversity found in your own classroom. Let students be proud of their heritage, and encourage them to share it with others.” – K. David Harrison

Koro speakers Abamu Degio and Anthony Degio with K. David Harrison (India). Photo by Jeremy Fahringer.

Ways to support endangered languages

1. Tweet #savelang

In honor of Mother Language Day, help us celebrate language diversity by joining us on the Twittersphere and tweeting the hashtag #savelang to bring attention to the world’s endangered languages.

2. Explore Talking Dictionaries

Our first ever “Voces Duraderas” (Enduring Voices) workshop took place in Chile in January 2013. Twelve indigenous language activists from seven different Latin American countries attended and received new Language Technology Kits to support the creation of linguistic materials in their languages.

The workshop was very successful because the participants created 9 new Talking Dictionaries. Take a moment to support Latin American minority languages by checking out our brand-new “Talking Dictionaries of Latin America” portal (available in English and Spanish).

3. Support us on Indiegogo

Our Talking Dictionary workshops have been so successful that we are expanding our efforts to include the languages of Papua New Guinea. Help us fund a digital skills workshop at Papua New Guinea’s University of Technology in which students create Talking Dictionaries for their native languages.

We just started a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo to help us fund the workshop for Papua New Guinea! We have 14 days to reach our goal of $2,750. Thanks for your support!

4. Come to “One World, Many Voices”

We are very pleased to announce we are collaborating with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival this year to bring you “One World, Many Voices: Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritage” on June 26–30 and July 3–7, 2013 in Washington, D.C. (USA).

The event will highlight language diversity as a vital part of our human heritage. Cultural experts from communities around the world will demonstrate how their ancestral tongues embody cultural knowledge, identity, values, technologies, and arts.

The One World, Many Voices program is produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with UNESCO, the National Geographic Society’s Enduring Voices Project, and the Smithsonian’s Recovering Voices Initiative.

We hope you enjoyed reading our newsletter for International Mother Language Day 2013.

Thanks for your support! Best wishes, Living Tongues Institute