Almost three years now since our first filming team was on its way to meet the Benga and Mpongwe in Gabon to film their languages – essentially oral. We’ve returned to Gabon since then, but meanwhile we’ve also been to Senegal, Guatemala, French Guiana, New Caledonia…

So it was time we took a minute to assess all the material collected along the way and introduced some of our work to the public, which is what the 3rd Sorosoro Sessions are about.

Agenda

One date to highlight on this week’s calendar, should you be in Paris: December 8, 6pm! We hope many of you can make it to the Maison des Cultures du Monde where our Sorosoro Sessions are being held, with a very rich program:

- author Irène Frain and linguist Anvita Abbi on India,

- linguist Colette Grinevald on 40 years of fieldwork in the Americas,

- Yarwng, an Indian film in Kokborok language, awarded in several festivals and unreleased in France…

Click here for the full program.

Blog

Joseph Pulinthanath, who directed Yarwng, brings us a spirited article on the Kokborok language – one of the countless languages spoken in India – titled Jadu Kolija, the core of Kokborok culture and language.

Read blog

Soropedia

Honors to the languages of India this week. Now available: a brand new description of Kokborok, the language of the movie Yarwng.

Also online as we speak, a sheet on the Andaman languages, spoken on the islands of the same name, off the southeastern Indian shores. These very ancient languages documented by Anvita Abbi have a very low number of speakers; a few hundred at the most, which gives an idea on how much they’re endangered.

This week’s video

Back with the Bedik in eastern Senegal for a quick vocab lesson in Menik: the days of the week.

See video

News

December 2, 2011: Barack Obama signs an order on USA and Alaska’s first nations education titled “Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Education Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities”. Great perspectives and hope for the Indian nations.

Read article

The word of the fortnight

A new word needing translation in all possible languages: GIFT. Feel free to join in!

Supported by