Technology to the Endangered Language Rescue?(huffingtonpost.com)

Technology to the Endangered Language Rescue?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alissa-stern/technology-to-the-endange_b_6225900.html

1 comments

I would add cartoons to the list. As a Kyrgyz native (and a Kyrgyz speaker living in Kyrgyzstan), I want my son to use our language in everyday life. But the cartoons he loves are all in Russian. Plus, almost all of his classmates use Russian as their primary language (though they are taught in Kyrgyz). It's amazing (and at the same time, quite depressing) that he's learned Russian himself, though we never use Russian at home. It's also depressing when he asks "how to say X in Kyrgyz"? (X = a_russian_word). This is the power of cartoons. There are some enthusiasts, dubbing russian-dubbed cartoons into Kyrgyz in a "pirate-way", since it costs ~150K[1] to professionally dub a film. I would also add to the article that film studios (Disney etc.) would greatly support minor languages by launching "special program" for endangered and/or minor languages. Like, "hey, here are source files and style guides, quality audio files/recording environment [light] requirements, please, feel free to send us dub files and we'll launch the cartoon in your language for you".

1. http://www.altynkyran.kz/rus/novosti/?cid=0&rid=63

PS Interesting articles

Disney Character Voices International (these guys are the ones who choose what languages to dub into) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Character_Voices_Interna...

Language Issues and Disney’s Frozen “Let It Go” Multilanguage Video http://nataliejonckheere.com/language-issues-and-disneys-fro...

How dubbing works. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/20...