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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Multimedia Materials for the Balinese Language

Villas in Bali and the villas in Bali for rent, being the best accommodation for tourists in Bali, are not the only ones that are being constantly improved.

Today, the Balinese language will be seeing a technology boost as the first multimedia materials for teaching it will be released in Bali soon. This is after a non-profit organization, BASABali, has announced the said plans.

BASABali is an organization that provides electronically-based vehicles that allow the coming together of anthropologists, linguists, and videographers from the different parts of the world. Called BASA: Balinese Language Preservation Corp, it is based in Washington, D.C. With this project, experts from around the world come together to produce modern and engaging materials to teach the language. When the project is through, the result will be 24 dialogue-based videos, some language exercises and grammatical notes.

The move is a response to the sad truth that the Austronesian language of Bali is being used now only by 1 million, out of the three million, people in Bali. Additionally, the written script of the language is already endangered. This is primarily caused by globalization and tourism which poses the increasing need to learn the English language. Also, the preferred language of most Balinese people now is the national language which is Bahasa Indonesia.

“It represents tremendous progress for the Balinese language to be recognized as part of the universe of languages and for Bali to be well known not just as paradise island but also one that is rich which indigenous culture. The materials will help Balinese thrive even in the middle of globalization,” said Ayu Mandala, Project Manager of BASABali, on the importance of the project.

Through kickstarter.com, many supporters were able to pledge their help and the organizers were able to raise the money, including other forms of assistance. Through sparked.com, “desktop volunteers” will also be taking care of the website and e-learning modules.

Individuals can get the material for US$25 which will go to technical support, updates, and others.

As for non-profit organizations and community groups, they can have the material free of charge.

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