22/10/2024
We embarked on a mission to record the voices of Puno Quechua language and empower the community through digital literacy and capacity building. This project aimed to revitalize this under-resourced language and integrate it more seamlessly into the Wikimedia ecosystem.
The Puno Quechua language, spoken by over 40% of Puno population in Peru, is NOT learned at school, written, read or documented. Our project is recording Puno Quechua words with native speakers & making them available to all!
What does this mean? Let's delve into the amazing journey:
Impact and Achievements:
* Reached diverse audiences: We conducted workshops at the National University of the Altiplano (massive turnout!), a radio station ("Rondas Campesinas" session with high listenership), and collaborated with the "Illariy Ch'aska" organization, directly engaging native speakers.
* Recordings with heart: Despite logistical challenges (mountain travel, adjusting schedules), we documented 9 participants recording their voices using LinguaLibre tool! Their passion for preserving their language shone through.
* Building a digital archive: The recorded voices now reside on Wikimedia Commons, categorized for easy access. You can find them here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lingua_Libre_pronunciation-que
* Content creation boost: Our efforts directly contributed to the creation of over 1,500+ Puno Quechua Lexemes, containing senses, forms, and pronunciation audio.
* Participants: We surpassed our target, engaging with +140 participants!
Key Learnings:
* Connecting is key: Building rapport with participants goes a long way. Adapting to their schedules and visiting them in their mountain homes fostered trust and collaboration.
* Empowering communities: By providing tools like LinguaLibre and a clear workflow, we empowered native speakers to contribute directly to the documentation of their language.
* A replicable model: Our successful workflow can be applied to other under-resourced languages! You can read more about the general overview of the project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxAqX2qhgcw
* Mountain voices, strong commitment: People living in the mountains displayed a strong desire to preserve their language, contrasting with the disinterest of the government, or public institutions.
We're incredibly proud of the impact this project has had on preserving Puno Quechua! This is just the beginning, and we're excited to see how this language thrives in the digital world. A special thanks to all of you who supported our project, and special thanks to and the Wikimedia Foundation for their invaluable support in making this project a reality.
Join us in celebrating this success and get involved in language revitalization efforts!
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Learn more about our project: https://elwin.huamanquispe.com/project/quechuavoices/
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