I started this project a while ago to help revitalise languages, I hope you like it. This story was created by Kiri from MoaThanWords.
It is a short narrated autumn story for learning some new kupu in te reo Māori.
Get the e-book here: https://ouku.org/l/TheBackyardisBroken-Autumn
Watch the read aloud video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqKVFewonMo
A while ago I had the idea of being a more productive member of society. I looked at my skills and maintained my determination not to use my degree.
Thousands of languages today face extinction, each carrying a unique worldview, history and wisdom. When a language disappears, a whole way of seeing the world vanishes with it.
So I figured out how to build something that required no subscription, had no ads, required no Wi-Fi after downloading, where children can gather and listen to a story in their grandmother’s voice, hear sounds that give the story more atmosphere so they can almost live in it for a moment.
It’s an e-book. But you can also tap words to hear and learn their meanings. It’s a resource that children can interact with and experience stories not only in the written word but also in voice, illustration and sound. Embracing them in this way with their mother-tongue thorough storytelling could inspire in a child a stronger sense of self. First-generation families understand how deeply language connects us to our roots and shapes our identity.
These e-books are in no way a replacement for physical books. They can be a fun learning tool, entertainment or extra language support with accompanying off-screen activities. They are made to expose children to their language, in appropriate accents and dialects that suit the story, allowing them to hear pronunciations and intonations that are hard to find in digital media. I want to provide stories in languages that are not widely available in this format. Some are marginalised or disappearing, so parents and family members may not even speak them but still want children to learn.
My goal is to help encourage families in the diaspora to pass on their language to their children.
Māori and English e-book if you’d like to check it out:
🍂The Backyard is Broken - Autumn
Features include:
🎧 Audio narration option
🎵 Background-music/sounds option
📥 Downloadable for offline reading
🚫 Ad-free experience
🔍 Learn new words with highlighted definitions
⏯️ Interactive reading: pause, play and replay pages
📖 Auto-turn-my-page option
What extra features do you think would be useful for bilingual children? I'm open to feedback to improve.