Program uses new technology to help preserve old languages (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Published - Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Program uses new technology to help preserve old languages

By K�ri Knutson | Winona Daily News.
http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2007/10/03/news/05words03.txt

[STORY PHOTO - Wayne Wells, right, and his cousin Leah Owen, translate a
children's book into their native Dakota language Tuesday during a workshop
at Winona State University designed to help Native Americans preserve their
language using technology. Wells and Owen plan to create learning materials
in Dakota when they return to the Prairie Island Indian Community in Welch,
Minn. (Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News)]

Winona State University hosted a workshop Tuesday designed to teach American
Indians to use technology to preserve their languages.

The weeklong program, run by the Indigenous Language Institute, shows how to
use multimedia technology tools and language material templates, such as
storybooks, calendars and newsletters. On Tuesday, the class learned how to
translate a children’s book from English into other languages, including
Dakota and Oneida.

About half of the world’s 6,000 or so languages are in danger of being lost,
according to the National Science Foundation. Most languages die as people
are pressured to assimilate to a more dominant culture and children grow up
not speaking their parents’ native tongue.

“Our mission is to put the skills and tools of technology into the hands of
communities working on preserving languages,” ILI executive director
In�e Yang Slaughter said.

Participants can then use the technology to create educational materials in
native languages. Keyboards can be adapted to different languages, and each
participant gets a flash drive that adapts to their home computer
accordingly.

The ILI is based in Santa Fe, N.M., and has a partnership with IBM that
makes these workshops possible. Two are conducted each year in different
regions.

Kathleen Moriarty works with bilingual and heritage language programs for
the Minnesota Humanities Center in St. Paul. She brought a
Dakota-to-English dictionary to help her during the workshop. Moriarty
hopes to take what she learns and apply it to other languages as well.

“The more I know, the more I can share,” Moriarty said.

Wayne Wells, 33, is a Dakota language consultant for the Prairie Island
Indian Community in Welch, Minn. He is hoping to create learning materials
in the Dakota language for his students. He works with students ages 7 to
14 and says that they know the Dakota language better than he did when he
was their age.

“Technology can be used as a learning tool,” Wells said. “That’s what kids
are used to.”

One of the goals of the workshop is to have participants produce storybooks
in native languages that can be shared in their communities.

“Tribes are saying the storytelling tradition is dwindling,” Slaughter said.
“This is one way to make sure stories don’t disappear.”

Contact K�ri Knutson at kknutson at winonadaily news.com or (507)
453-3523.