Wikitongues/Reports/2019

The Wikitongues User Group was recognized as a Wikimedia user group in May 10, 2018. This report outlines our accomplishments and activities between May 3rd, 2018 and May 2nd, 2019.

Overview

Wikitongues is a not-for-profit organization and volunteer community that educates the public about linguistic diversity and how to sustain it. In particular, we help people around the world create and archive documentation in their languages, especially video oral histories and distribute guides for getting involved with language preservation, revitalization, and sustainability.

Our user group was founded with two objectives:

1. Facilitate Wikitongues contribution to Wikimedia projects, especially in the form of language content on the Wikimedia Commons.
2. Promote linguistic diversity in the Wikimedia movement through language-centered events and campaigns.

Content

Wikitongues began contributing to the Wikimedia Commons on June 24th, 2016, about two years before our user group was recognized. As of this report, we have contributed 315 language videos to the Wikimedia Commons, representing 250 unique languages. A lifetime index of videos contributed to the Wikimedia Commons may be found here.

Since our user group was recognized, we have updated our overall licensing system to encourage contributors to submit videos under a CC-by-SA 4.0 license and systemized our contribution flow to Wikimedia Projects: if a video is submitted on Wikitongues platforms with the appropriate license, it will be published on the Commons and if a video is contributed to Wikitongues through the Wikimedia Commons, we will archive it internally. This ensures that as our community grows and engages through the project from increasingly different touchpoints, we can maintain confidence about the contents of every video our community produces.

Between May 3rd, 2018 and May 2nd, 2019, Wikitongues contributed 220 language videos to the Wikimedia Commons, representing 189 unique languages.

Languages on Commons

Between May 3rd, 2018 and May 2nd, 2019, Wikitongues contributed videos in 189 unique languages to the Wikimedia Commons. Notably, 11 of these languages are Indigenous to Indonesia's Borneo provinces, unlisted on Ethnologue and Glottolog, and therefore potentially unclassified.

ISO Code (639-3/6)*	Language Name
No code - potentially unclassified	Bedineh
No code - potentially unclassified	Bedamea
No code - potentially unclassified	Benana
No code - potentially unclassified	Beahe
No code - potentially unclassified	Be Eih
No code - potentially unclassified	Bekambai
No code - potentially unclassified	Bekoeh
No code - potentially unclassified	Bemak
No code - potentially unclassified	Bengape
No code - potentially unclassified	Beaye
No code - potentially unclassified	Mentuka
No code - understudied	Bildts
No code - understudied	Transylvanian Saxon
No code - constructed language	Kreel
No code - constructed language	Toki Pona
No code - Asturleonese variety	Leonese
ace	Aceh
acm	Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken
aeb	Arabic, Tunisian Spoken
afr	Afrikaans
apc	Arabic, North Levantine Spoken
arb	Arabic, Standard
arq	Arabic, Algerian Spoken
ary	Arabic, Moroccan Spoken
ast	Asturian
azb	Azerbaijani, South
azj	Azerbaijani, North
bar	Bavarian
bbc	Batak Toba
bei	Bakati’
bel	Belarusan
ben	Bengali
bgc	Haryanvi
bho	Bhojpuri
bjn	Banjar
bre	Breton
byd	Benyadu’
lit	Lithuanian
cat	Catalan
chr	Cherokee
ckb	Kurdish, Central
ckt	Chukchi
cmn	Chinese, Mandarin
crh	Crimean Tatar
dag	Dagbani
deu	German, Standard
dnj	Dan
dse	Sign Language of the Netherlands
dty	Dotyali
mos	Mòoré
dyu	Jula
egl	Emilian
cgg	Chiga
gyn	Guyanese Creole English
njo	Naga, Ao
epo	Esperanto
eus	Basque
ext	Extremaduran
far	Fataleka
fra	French
fry	Frisian
fse	Finnish Sign Language
fss	Finland-Swedish Sign Language
gla	Gaelic, Scottish
glv	Manx
gos	Gronings
gsw	German, Swiss
gwi	Gwich’in
hak	Chinese, Hakka
hat	Haitian
rus	Russian
heb	Hebrew
her	Herero
kfy	Kumaoni
hin	Hindi
swg	Swabian
hun	Hungarian
hyw	Western Armenian
iba	Iban
ibb	Ibibio
irk	Iraqw
ell	Greek
ita	Italian
jav	Javanese
kab	Kabyle
kan	Kannada
kas	Kashmiri
kaz	Kazakh
ady	Adyghe
kbd	Kabardian
kha	Khasi
kir	Kyrgyz
klu	Klao
kmb	Kimbundu
kmr	Kurdish, Northern
knx	Kendayan
kor	Korean
kqo	Krahn, Eastern
kry	Kryts
ktz	Ju|’hoan
lea	Lega-Shabunda
lht	Lo-Toga
lij	Ligurian
lim	Limburgish
lmo	Lombard
lom	Loma
loz	Lozi
lrz	Lemerig
lvs	Latvian, Standard
mai	Maithili
mal	Malayalam
mev	Mano
mlu	To’abaita
mlv	Mwotlap
mnk	Mandinka
msn	Vurës
mui	Musi
mvi	Miyako
mya	Burmese
mzj	Manya
nap	Napoletano-Calabrese
nau	Nauruan
ndo	Ndonga
nia	Nias
nld	Dutch
nmk	Namakura
nnd	Ambae, West
unm	Unami
nnt	Nanticoke
npi	Nepali
ntu	Natügu
nus	Nuer
nya	Chichewa
omb	Ambae, East
ory	Oriya
osi	Osing
pan	Panjabi, Eastern
pes	Persian, Iranian
bwg	Barwe
por	Portuguese
ppi	Paipai
quz	Quechua, Cusco
rif	Tarifit
ron	Romanian
sat	Santhali
sbs	Kuhane
scn	Sicilian
sdn	Sardinian, Gallurese
sev	Sénoufo, Nyarafolo
shi	Tachelhit
smo	Samoan
fil	Filipino
eng	English
sck	Sadri
khr	Kharia
spv	Sambalpuri
ssp	Spanish Sign Language
sun	Sunda
swh	Swahili
syc	Syriac
szl	Silesian
tam	Tamil
tgl	Tagalog
tha	Thai
tli	Tlingit
spa	Spanish
tnq	Taino
tpi	Tok Pisin
tql	Lehali
trs	Triqui, Chicahuaxtla
tsn	Tswana
tso	Tsonga
ttb	Gaa
tvl	Tuvaluan
twd	Twents
uzn	Uzbek, Northern
vai	Vai
vec	Venetian
wol	Wolof
wuu	Chinese, Wu
wya	Wyandot
xdy	Malayic Dayak
xpe	Kpelle, Liberia
yor	Yoruba
yua	Maya, Yucatec
yue	Chinese, Yue
zlm	Malay
zom	Zo
zsm	Malay, Standard

Videos and Audio on Commons

Between May 3rd, 2018 and May 2nd, 2019, Wikitongues contributed videos in 220 unique languages to the Wikimedia Commons.

Events

To promote multilingualism on Wikipedia projects, we organized translate-a-thons and helped develop the record-a-thon, a new event format for contributing oral histories—representing oral and traditional knowledge—to Wikimedia projects.

Translate-a-thons

Between May 3rd, 2018 and May 2nd, 2019, Wikitongues co-organized the following translate-a-thons:

• The April 2018 Translate-A-Thon at LaGuardia Community College in New York City; and
• The Afro-Recordathon in at LaGuardia Community College in New York City.

Record-a-thons

The Afro-Recordathon at LaGuardia Community College in New York City contained a record-a-thon component. In addition to providing support for Wikimedians interested in translation, we operated a recording room where participants shared oral history. Three people joined us in person. One person self-recorded and contributed remotely from Ghana, making this a transatlantic event.

Cross-Collaboration

AfroCROWD and WhoseKnowledge?

In coordination with the AfroCROWD User Group, WhoseKnowledge? and LaGuardia Community College, we organized the translate-a-thons described above. The video station at the Afro Record-A-Thon yielded four videos, including one oral history of Jesse Hameen II, who is featured on Wikipedia, and one transatlantic contribution from Ghana.

• Jesse Hameen II is an American musician featured on Wikipedia
• Leena shared her family history, including her father's emigration to the United States
• Dr Luv is a Jamaican musician who shared a brief history of ska music
• Samuel submitted an oral history in his language Ghana

Wikimedians of the Levant

In coordination with Wikimedians of the Levant, we recorded a fluent speaker of Syriac and the head of a local church in Amman, Jordan.

• Syriac language interview, included in the Videos and Audio on Commons table above.

Odia Wikimedians User Group

At Wikimania 2018 in Cape Town, Daniel Bogre Udell (talk), Subhashish Panigrahi (talk), Sailesh Patnaik staffed a joint Wikitongues, Odia Wikimedians, and O Foundation table at the community village. Together, we recorded 18 Wikimedians speaking their languages.

• Amir speaking Russian and Hebrew
• Cahyo speaking Javanese
• Gereon speaking English
• Gereon speaking German
• Hasive speaking Bengali
• Iddy speaking Swahili
• Josh speaking Tagalog
• Mahmoud speaking Iraqi Arabic
• Mckensie speaking English
• Mohammed speaking Dagbani
• Nataev speaking Uzbek
• Netha speaking Malayalam
• Olaniyan speaking Yoruba
• Ranjith speaking Malayalam
• Roussow speaking Afrikaans
• Sam speaking English
• William speaking English
• Chabota speaking Nyanja

Presentations

Wikipedia Day NYC

Daniel Bogre Udell (talk) participated in Wikipedia as a Global Project, a panel discussion about cultural and linguistic diversity in the Wikimedia movement, especially in light the of 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages.

Wikimania 2018

Daniel Bogre Udell (talk) expanded on his 2017 lightning talk with a full-length presentation on the Wikitongues mission and activities.

WikiConference North America

Ben Jones-White presented Wikitongues at WikiConference North America in Ohio.

Wiki Loves Africa 2019

Chabota Isaac Kanguya (talk) presented the Wikitongues User Group to an audience in Lusaka, Zambia.

Finances

Wikitongues is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation registered in the U.S. state of New York since 2014. Our fiscal year runs from January to December. During our User Group's first year, which ran from May 3rd, 2018 to May 2nd, 2018, we allocated our budget exclusively to programs outside Wikimedia and, as such, all Wikitongues contributions to Wikimedia were entirely volunteer-driven without supporting expenses. Our organization's Statement of Activities for the period of May 3rd, 2018 to May 2nd, 2019 is included below.

Revenues, Gains, and Other Support

Private contributions	$13,900.95 USD
Government contracts and grants	$0.00 USD
Private foundation grants	$0.00 USD
Other (such as contracts)	$4,073.68 USD
Total revenues, gains, and other support	$17,974.63 USD

Expenses and losses

Management and general	$4,826.18 USD
Growth and fund raising	$32.60 USD
Total expenses and loses	$4,858.78 USD

Net assets

Net assets at beginning of cycle	$1,316.77 USD
Net assets to date	$14,432.62 USD
Change in net assets	$13,115.85 USD

Gallery

• Wikipedia Day NYC 2019 - 03 Panel - Wikipedia as a Global Project.ogv Wikipedia as a Global Project at Wikipedia Day NYC
• 
  Wiki Loves Africa Event Zambia 2019 18.png Chabota Isaac Kanguya's presention at Wiki Loves Africa 2019
• 
  Wiki Loves Africa Event Zambia 2019 06.jpg Chabota Isaac Kanguya at Wiki Loves Africa 2019
• 
  Daniel Bogre Udell interviewing a German Wikimedian at Wikimania 2018, Cape Town (43688726661).jpg Language recording at Wikimania 2018
• 
  Daniel Bogre Udell presenting about Wikitongues at Wikimania 2018 02.jpg Daniel Bogre Udell's presention at Wikimania 2018
• 
  Daniel Bogre Udell presenting about Wikitongues at Wikimania 2018 01.jpg Daniel Bogre Udell's presention at Wikimania 2018
• 
  Members of Odia Wikimedians User Group, O Foundation and Wikitongues at Wikimania 2018.jpg Wikitongues booth at the Wikimania 2018 community village
• 
  Daniel Bogre Udell and Freddie Andrade interviewing a Javanese Wikimedian for Wikitongues at Wikimania 2018 01.jpg Language recording at Wikimania 2018
• 
  Daniel Bogre Udell and Freddie Andrade interviewing Netha Hussain for Wikitongues at Wikimania 2018 03.jpg Language recording at Wikimania 2018
• 
  Daniel Bogre Udell and Freddie Andrade interviewing Javanese Wikimedian Wirjadisastrai for Wikitongues at Wikimania 2018 02.jpg Language recording at Wikimania 2018
• 
  WikiConference NA 2018 - Saturday 139.jpg Ben Jones-White's presentation at WikiConference North America 2018
• 
  People at WikiConference North America 2018 GJS (0096).jpg Ben Jones-White at WikiConference North America 2018
• 
  الأب يمين بن شمعون.jpg Syriac language interview for Wikitongues in Amman, Jordan
• 
  Provost of LAGCC visits faculty and WikNYC at translatathon jeh.jpg Wikitongues and AfroCROWD members with LaGuardia Community College provost and professors
• 
  Recordathon 2018a jeh.jpg Wikitongues and AfroCrowd members with participants in the Afro Record-a-thon

Reflections

Though Wikitongues has informally contributed to Wikimedia projects since 2016, our first year as a recognized user group saw a vast expansion in our contributions and strong coordination with other parts of the movement. We contributed oral histories in nearly two hundred languages from every populated continent, contributed to events on two continents, and helped set a precedent for a new event format for preserving oral and traditional knowledge, the record-a-thon. By all measures, this was a successful year.

Looking forward, we could improve in two areas.

Content curation

Our Commons category page could be better organized, with a clearer hierarchy of sub-categories that distinguish between documentation of the user group and its members (i.e., event photos, recorded presentations, etc) and the user group's actual contributions (language videos, and so on), as well as breaking down these two larger categories into manageable sub-categories. Additionally, some contributions listed under Wikitongues sub-categories are not listed under the Wikitongues meta category. This makes it hard for would-be contributors to sift through media and add it to other relevant Wikipedia projects like Wikipedia. An overhaul is needed.

Additionally, our contributions are underutilized. Most videos aren't included in relevant Wikipedia pages and we have yet to contribute to other projects that could benefit from Wikitongues content, like Wikivoyage. Contribution beyond the Commons will help further our stated objective of expanding linguistic diversity across Wikimedia projects.

Member engagement

Though just 47 users are formal members of the Wikitongues User Group, 92 unique authors contributed videos with Wikimedia-appropriate CC-by-SA licenses between May 3rd, 2018 and May 2nd, 2019. This indicates that we could do a better job onboarding external Wikitongues volunteers to Wikimedia.

Broadly, we could make Wikitongues-Wikimedia contribution easier using the following strategies:

1. Routinely messaging User Group members with edit suggestions, such as contributing certain videos on the Commons to relevant Wikipedia articles;
2. Including better resources for recording language videos on our User Group meta page; and
3. Designing templates for organizing translate-a-thons and record-a-thons, so that Wikitongues members can more quickly launch language-centered Wikimedia events, wherever they are.