Preserving the Balinese Language for Generations to Come
Language represents culture. In culturally-rich Indonesia that will is usually especially true; being an archipelago of over 17,000 islands with around 300 distinct native ethnic groups along with 706 living languages.
With the formation of the nation, along with the Indonesian national language 65 years ago however, some of the country’s minority languages declined. The Balinese language is usually one of these, along with one of the linguistic treasures of Indonesia that will needs to continue to develop along with be maintained, along with additional regional languages (along with Indonesian, of course).
“Our goal is usually to celebrate how Indonesia’s minority languages can co-exist along with thrive along with the national language,” says Alissa Stern, Founding Director of BASAbali, a US-based not for profit organization that will is usually dedicated to the promotion along with preservation of the Balinese language.
Considered by experts a difficult language to master, Balinese is usually greatly complicated by its caste influences. There’s high Balinese, low along with middle Balinese, plus several variations of the three languages.
The Bali Cultural Agency estimates that will the number of people still using Balinese does not exceed 1 million on an island having a population greater than 4 million people.
Balinese is usually mostly spoken in social along with culture interactions; Indonesian, however is usually increasingly the language of commerce, in schools along with public places.
“We need to take seriously the proposition that will languages are part of a person’s – along having a society’s – identity, along with we need to value languages as we do additional precious resources,” Stern adds. A graduate via Harvard Law School, having a BA in Anthropology along with Southeast Asian Studies via Cornell University, who is usually right now pursuing a graduate degree in linguistic anthropology at George Washington University, the spark of initiative that will led her to consider the possibilities of studying the Balinese language via afar occurred after a conversation having a Balinese priest in 2009. “You can never actually understand how someone else makes sense of the earth unless you speak their language,” she says.
Stern then set out to discover her options. After engaging with several of the top Southeast Asian language programs inside the US, along with Balinese experts in Bali along with around the earth, she found that will aside via a couple of books, dictionaries, along with studies, there were almost no resources available. BASAbali brought together linguists, videographers, anthropologists, language software specialists, language teachers along with others who could share their knowledge along with experience with language learning programmes to create a unique fusion of tradition along with modernity. Their goal: to create a fun contemporary approach to learning, blending technology, images along with sounds.
“We believe that will the planet thrives when there is usually diversity along with BASAbali wants to strengthen Balinese while there is usually a solid base of speakers rather than waiting until the language is usually endangered,” Stern says. Located in Washington DC, BASAbali is usually a virtual community of volunteers along with experts who are linguists, anthropologists, students, along with laypeople, via within along with outside of Bali, who are working to keep Balinese strong along with sustainable.
Self teaching methods using BASAbali software | Photo by BASAbali
With money raised through crowdfunding along with software generously donated by Transparent Language, BASAbali engaged the help of Visual Bali, a local videographer along with linguists via Udayana University, who produced 24 dialogue videos along with accompanying language exercises. Patricia Chan, a Javanese digital media specialist helped having a series of modules to teach the endangered Balinese script. The program is usually given to non-profit organizations free of charge while the software has been incorporated into the regular middle school curriculum in Denpasar. The program offers instruction in Indonesian for native Indonesian speakers, or in English, along with is usually available online, as a DVD, along with for mobile devices.
“During 2014/2015 we engaged in some very exciting projects,” says the Director of BASABali in Bali, Ayu Mandala, a generating force behind the organizations operations in Bali. “Working with students along with professors via DwiJendra along with Udayana Universities in Bali we translated over 7,500 phrases needed to translate Google’s home page into Balinese as a part of Google’s effort to provide a web presence for minority languages.”
“We partnered with Banjar Bali USA along with Balinese communities in eight additional countries in a unique event in November, commemorating the Balinese Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art along with education – Saraswati. Coinciding with Saraswati Day, a celebration of the riches of languages with the performance of poetry in Balinese, Indonesian, along with several additional world languages simulcast in participating countries was held.”
Working with Balinese communities in different countries along with the relevant Indonesian embassies participants
Students using BASAbali resources | Photo by BASAbali
engaged inside the reading of Balinese poetry in different languages. Winners were drawn of a monthly online poetry contest that will encouraged people to write in Balinese along with to contribute to a free, online ‘living’ Balinese-English-Indonesian wiki dictionary, underscoring the international importance of Balinese.
“A live annual poetry slam in honour of Saraswati Day will be an ongoing event, along having a monthly online poetry contest,” Mandala says. “Our main programme in 2016 is usually continuing the development of our Balinese-English-Indonesian wiki dictionary which the public can use along with contribute to, which is usually innovative as both a resource along with as a tool. As a resource, the idea functions as a modern, up-to-date Balinese reference dictionary with example sentences taken via real live sources along with with videos of native speakers.”
“Tool-wise, through the Banjar Project we are going into banjars to develop ‘wiki ambassadors’, so as to encourage people, especially parents with tiny kids, to take videos along with upload them to ensure they become part of the process of helping their language.”
Nowadays governments are often concerned about cultural homogenization along with promoting one unifying national language. The international community often focuses on commercially viable languages or ones with significant political sway. Yet BASAbali perceives our world as a world of living languages. Visiting their website gives an insight to the breadth of their commitment to the Balinese language via networks along with team work.
“We thrive on challenges,” Mandala says. “Creating suitable programs that will can reach all levels of education along with cross sections of community requires enormous deliberations. Our mission is usually to encourage people, native or otherwise, to speak in Balinese in more places, more of the time.”
“that will is usually an immense local along with international effort working together with many experts to successfully create our events along with programs. Presenting universal interactive media is usually an incredible achievement along with is usually enormously satisfying.”
For more about BASAbali, please go to: www.basabali.org
The free multimedia Balinese-English-Indonesian dictionary, wiki is usually at http://dictionary.basabali.org
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Preserving the Balinese Language for Generations to Come
Preserving the Balinese Language for Generations to Come