Mobile Virtual Learning for Indigenous Languages
01.10.2019 –  28.02.2022
Projeck Reference: 2019-1-UK01-KA204-061875

2019 haes bin proclaimit the Internaitional Year o Hamelt Leids (UN Resolution 71178 on the Richts o Hamelt Fowk). The steidy dwyne, an in some cases sair tynin o sic leids haes brocht forrit ettlins tae heeze up an gie new virr tae threitent an minoritie leids in general. Agin sic a backgrun, the EU ettles tae mak siccar the endurement an uphaudin o whit it cries Threitent Leids. The Cooncil o Europe’s Chairter fir Regional or Minoritie Leids pits maist importance on eddication an leid lairnin as upmaist concerns, gien the want o eddication proveesion athin minoritie leid communities; in some kintras, fir exaimple, the anely wey tae lairn sic a threitent leid is as a ‘fremmit’ leid subjeck.

In sic a context, the concerns o oor projeck sits alangside EU concerns an initiatives tae tak tent o an heeze up the EU’s 128 threitent leids (see 2013 wittins fae the European Pairlament Directorate-General, “Endangered Languages and Linguistic Diversity in the European Union”). Accordin tae UNESCO, a leid is threitent whan its speakers staps yaisin it or disna yaise it gey aften, an disna rax it doon till their bairns.

Oor projeck, IndyLan, will big an eddicational tool, ettelt in parteecular fir fowk tae lairn nae jist some o Europe’s threitent leids, bit mair anent the culturs o the fowk that speaks thaim. The tool is a game-lik leid-lairnin wey o daein in the form o a mobile application. Smairtphones haes become gey popular as eddicational tools an the nummer o smairtphone an tablet yaisers o aw ages is aye growin in the EU. The IndyLan application will help speakers o Inglis, Spanish, Norse, Swades an Finnish tae lairn Gaelic, Scots, Cornish, Basque, Galician an Saami, aw endangered leids in their ain wey.

The application bigs on a foregane projeck, Moving Languages, wi the main difference that IndyLan will mak ae application fir aw leids, an nae mony applications fir ilk leid lik Moving Languages did. IndyLan will haud aroon 4,000 vocables (baith wirds an says) in aboot 100 clesses. The airts that will be includit in the application is: Vocabular, Says, Dialogues, Grammar, Cultur, Test.

The vocabular can be practised in a wheen o lairnin airts. Maist items will hae eemages fir aisy kennin. There will be soond recordins fir aw vocabular, says, dialogues an sic like.
The app will also hae a dedicatit Cultur tab wi scrievins, music an eemages, whaur yaisers can lairn mair ower the heirskip an cultur o the fowk that spiks the chosen leids. At IndyLan, we dinna see sic leids as lowsed fae their speakers.

The IndyLan application will be open tae doonload fir free the hail warld ower in baith iOS an Android fae June 2021. Lik aw leid-lairnin apps, IndyLan wirks alangside ither leid- an culture coorses an shid be thocht o as material fir lairnin yersel. Oor veesion is fir the IndyLan app tae forder the lairnin an heezin up o threitent leids tae mak shair they bide leevin an relevant in modren societies an economies.