Rosetta Stone Endangered Language Program Releases Chitimacha Language Software (fwd link)

[Paul M Rickard]

We did a full episode on the Chitamacha Rosette Stone project earlier  
this year for our documentary series "Finding Our Talk 3" that aired  
on APTN here in Canada.  Its was a great opportunity to see and hear  
about the community project from its beginnings to its  
implementation.  It's great to hear that they've successfully  
launched it.  Visit www.mushkeg.ca for those interested in knowing  
more about the episode and series.

Paul Rickard

On Jan 25, 2010, at 12:50 PM, Phillip E Cash Cash wrote:

> Rosetta Stone Endangered Language Program Releases Chitimacha  
> Language Software
>
> Posted : Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:02:13 GMT
> Author : Rosetta Stone Inc.
> Category : Press Release
>
> ARLINGTON, Va. - (Business Wire) Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST), a
> leading provider of technology-based language learning solutions,
> announced today the release of the Chitimacha language version of
> Rosetta Stone® software for exclusive use by the Chitimacha Tribe of
> Louisiana. Despite the death of the last fluent speaker in 1940, the
> Chitimacha tribe is reviving its language through collaboration with
> the Rosetta Stone Endangered Language Program. The Rosetta Stone
> immersion approach enables language learners to develop everyday
> proficiency by linking meaning and structure of a new language
> directly to real world objects and events without translation. The
> Chitimacha language version of the software has been created through a
> Rosetta Stone corporate grant with all distribution rights belonging
> to the tribe.
>
> “We are honored that the Rosetta Stone Endangered Language Program can
> help the Chitimacha reclaim a piece of their heritage and cultural
> identity,” said Marion Bittinger, manager of the Rosetta Stone
> Endangered Language Program. “We are optimistic our work with
> indigenous groups will be a step towards reversing the tide of global
> language extinction.”
>
> With no native Chitimacha speakers in existence, the tribe’s Cultural
> Department began its language revitalization program in 1997, using
> wax cylinder recordings and field notes made 65 years before by
> renowned linguist Morris Swadesh. The recordings and field notes
> allowed a few tribal members to immerse themselves in the complex
> grammar and vocabulary of the dormant language and learn to pronounce
> the difficult sequences of sounds. As a result of the grant, Rosetta
> Stone staff members collaborated in the adaptation of the software to
> teach concepts and structures using only the Chitimacha language.
>
> “Language is really the heart of any culture. It’s not just about
> learning the words – it’s about the connection to your past,” said
> Kimberly Walden, Cultural Director of the Chitimacha Tribe and a key
> figure in the three-year effort to customize, record and produce the
> software. “The Rosetta Stone component of our language revitalization
> program will transform the way the Chitimacha language is taught. It
> will allow us to reach our entire membership regardless of their
> location and will enable the tribe as a whole to communicate as we did
> more than 75 years ago.”
>
> Learning with Rosetta Stone is a natural choice for language
> revitalization programs as the award-winning solutions help users
> develop language proficiency without translation, memorization or
> conjugation tables. The Rosetta Stone Endangered Language Program has
> developed software for several indigenous languages, including Mohawk
> (Kanien’keha), the coastal dialect of Inupiaq in Alaska and Inuttitut
> in Labrador, Canada. The North Slope Inupiaq and Navajo languages are
> also currently under development with Rosetta Stone.
>
> For more information please visit pr.RosettaStone.com.
>
> Access full article below:
> http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/rosetta-stone-endangered- 
> language-program-releases-chitimacha-language-software,1134301.shtml