How You Can Help Save the Balinese Language
Important Initiative Underway to Create Balinese Language Course Materials and Encourage the Use of Balinese
(10/7/2011)
We are living in an era of extinction. While the loss of animal species and natural habitats disappears at an increasingly alarming rate, traditional cultures and languages are also under threat.
As an outgrowth of globalization, experts predict that as many as 3,000 or 50% of the world's 6,000-7,000 languages are poised to be lost.
And, while the endemic language of the Balinese – Basa Bali - is not extinct, it is on the endangered list of languages. (See: Tiang Sing Bisa Mebasa Bali!)
According to the National Science Foundation, the loss of a local language results also in the loss of a unique intellectual tradition, local tradition and culture, and our ability to understand the progression of human history.
The number of texts dedicated to the understanding and study of Basa Bali is limited. In order to help address this lack of material and encourage the study of Balinese, [www.basabali.org] has been formed backed by a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) organization not-for-profit organization to which donations are tax deductable.
There are only a few volumes dealng with the teaching of Balinese. This project will help develop these materials in cooperation with Balinese and Western experts in order to encourage and maintain the use of Balinese.
The resulting Balinese language materials from the project will be based on a series of videos depicting dialogues from everyday life in Bali. The dialogues and accompanying exercises will be carefully created to teach grammar, pronunciation, and appropriate word choice dictated by the social status of both the speaker and the listener. Multiple pop-up notes will also help users understand the cultural context of the dialogues.
The program, when completed, will be available as a stand alone DVD or via the Internet. The organizers plan to make the material available free of charge to nonprofit organizations and schools in Bali and at a modest fee to all others in order to cover the expense of updates, maintenance and technical support.
Basabali.org aims to bring together Balinese and Western linguists, anthropologists, videographers, animators, historians, and language software specialists together in this crusade to encourage to study and use of Balinese.
The project has establish a Kickstart.com initiative in order to accumulate the US$8,500 needed to launch this project [Learn More] .
The amount sought to undertake this effort is very modest, made possible through the donation of the language software that will be used for lessons and the generous contributions of time by linguistic and language-teaching experts. The money donated will be used to cover the production of the videos and dialogues, including paying for local transportation and expenses, equipment, cameramen, dialogue and video editors, sound studio use and compensating actors.
An initial 10-12 video are targeted for production. [Click Here] to make even the most modest contribution to help [Basabali.org] commence its essential work.
Source: Bali Discovery