Endangered Languages Program

Transparent Language is proud to tackle the mission of recording and reviving indigenous languages using current technology.

In this excerpt from a February 14, 2009 press release: Using Computers to Learn and Preserve Indigenous Languages, Transparent Language, explains how it provided its software tools and training free of charge to the nonprofit organization Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia (GIM), founded by Mary Hermes and her husband Kevin. The organization's mission lies in developing curriculum materials especially designed to teach Ojibwe and other First Nation languages. Ojibwe is currently the third most widely taught indigenous language in North America after Navajo and Cherokee.

Transparent Language, which contracts with hundreds of linguists and native speakers around the world, has always been committed to adding languages to the Byki roster, regardless of how remote or active the language may be. Our CEO Michael Quinlan puts it this way: "We live in an age of global interaction. No language is so small that no one needs to learn it. If we could, we would provide software for all 4,000 languages in the world."

Transparent Language has added remote languages such as Altai, Tuvan, Buriat and Tajiki to our Byki product offerings as a testament to our love of language learning. For example, according to Wikipedia, Altai, which is the official language of Altai Republic in Russia, had 67,900 speakers in 2002.

These 4 languages, and over 65 others are available in Byki Express 4.0 as a free language software download.

About Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia (GIM)

The ultimate goal of GIM is to produce language products that are so widely used that indigenous people develop a common speaking base. GIM hopes to see people getting together to study with their software products. As a nonprofit enterprise, GIM is set up to share, for the cost of training, their expertise in using this software with any indigenous nation that finds it useful. GIM has already seen some interest from other indigenous groups and hopes to get much more. Interested parties should contact GIM directly:

Mary Hermes, PhD
Assistant Professor of Education
University of Minnesota Duluth
mary@grassrootsim.org
www.Ojibwemovies.com

Mailing Address:
Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia
P.O. Box 1370
Hayward, Wisconsin 54843-1370

Grants:

Ed.gov - Grant Application
Ed.gov - Resource Guide to Federal Funding
National Endowment For The Humanities
The Endangered Language Fund
Native American Language Preservation and Revival Grants

Web Resources:

The UN Works for Cultural Diversity: Endangered Languages
Ojibwe Movies
Joomla! - Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia