ELA’s work is all about what happens when communities, linguists, artists, students, and language lovers come together — usually in person, in a room, at a community center, at a festival, up a mountain or on a Brooklyn street corner… But in the meantime a lot of amazing work is going on virtually, opening up new possibilities.
- Language classes, starting next week on Zoom, from long-time Lunaape language teacher Karen Mosko (see below). Our friends at Quechua Collective of New York have also been busy with classes online!
- Language documentation: ELA volunteer Shweta Akolkar and long-time collaborator Uttam Singha (pictured above) continue to work on Bishnupriya Manipuri, Uttam’s language. ELA Co-Director Ross Perlin and veteran partner Rasmina Gurung continue to work in detail on Seke, Rasmina’s language.
- Indigenous language collaborations: We have been working with Indigenous New Yorkers on Language Access Policy recommendations for the NYC DOHMH that calls for improved interpretation and outreach. At the end of the summer, we helped our friends at the NYC DOHMH put together an event focused on COVID in NYC’s Indigenous communities— with simultaneous translation in 3 Indigenous languages, a first for the agency and the city. ELA has also been supporting multiple Indigenous language projects through fiscal sponsorship (more on those soon).
