The Rosetta Project has developed a language recording event called the Record-a-thon, a fun, inexpensive, "do-it-yourself" social event that engages speech communities in documenting their own language.
Using common electronic devices like inexpensive video cameras, mobile phones and laptop computers, the Record-a-thon teaches techniques for creating and archiving recordings of lasting value. Alongside the cultural value of the recordings (which can be on any subject), the recordings help document human language, leveraging a powerful resource – speech communities themselves – in the effort to preserve and promote the world’s endangered linguistic diversity.
Our first “pilot” Record-a-thon was held July 30, 02011 at the Internet Archive in San Francisco. It was a public event, in which people of all ages gathered and collectively created nearly 100 recordings in 35 different languages.
We are currently looking to organize Record-a-thons for individual languages, and seek individuals and cultural groups who are interested in being volunteer organizers and hosts. For more information on how you can host a Record-a-thon with your cultural center or group, please contact rosetta@longnow.org.
The Rosetta Disk
