Pratham Books is conducting a  special workshop on StoryWeaver -  an open source, digital repository of multilingual children’s stories in Goa on 2nd March (Wednesday) and we would like to invite you!

The workshop will cover the following

• A detailed Demo of StoryWeaver – how to navigate and use the platform
• Examples of how educators are using StoryWeaver effectively in their classrooms
• Dedicated work time for participants to try their hands on StoryWeaver
• An opportunity to meet people from similar field and make interesting conversations

If you are,

• a librarian or resource lead looking for curating stories
• an educator in search of interesting ways to introduce concepts to your students
• a storyteller or a reading champion
• someone passionate about children's storybooks in Indian languages ...

 

... please sign up!

Please note that​ the seats are limited and only confirmed participants will get a separate email confirming their participation and other logistical details.The workshop will be held from 2:30-5 p.m on 2nd March, Wednesday.

There is no charge to attend the workshop.

We look forward to seeing you! If there are any queries, please email them at [email protected]

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If you've noticed a spate of translations to Tibetan on StoryWeaver recently, then you can give the credit to Tenzin Dhargyal. An English teacher at TCV School, Suja, Himachal Pradesh, Tenzin came across StoryWeaver while browsing through Facebook. He reached out to us and asked if we could add Tibetan to the platform so that he could translate and create stories for students. 

"I am translating these books so that I can inspire other Tibetan teachers to translate children’s stories to the language. There is a real dearth of good quality stories for kids in Tibetan."says Tenzin.

Tenzin Dhargyal, English Teacher, TCV School, Suja, Himachal Pradesh.

Tenzin has been working with children for a long time now and felt that while his students had many books to choose from in English, there just wasn't enough choice when it came to Tibetan.  

The Tibetan Children’s Village school is a charitable institution with classes from Kindergarten to Standard XII. Tenzin has already shared stories with some of the children online and has plans to download, print and share copies of the stories with his colleagues for them to use in the classroom. 

"Storyweaver can be very helpful indeed! Students can read and get motivated to translate some short, level 1 stories to Tibetan language. This can be also an activity for them. Our teachers can translate some of the stories in Tibetan and use them in class. In fact, some of them have already done this." shares the enthusiastic teacher.

Tenzin reached out to other teachers through a Facebook group he is a part of with links to StoryWeaver and requested them to use the platform for translation. They all answered his call and responded, and Tenzin is confident that others will follow suit. Mr. Tenzin Dorjee la,  the Principal of a Tibetan school in Dharamsala and his children have translated two stories and Dr. Chok who works in the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala and Jigme Wangden la who teaches Tibetan at TCV School have all been active on StoryWeaver. 

You can read all the Tibetan translations by Tenzin and his colleagues here.

 

"All children are equal, they are the future owners of this planet." says Tenzin "Lets  make them good human beings through the morals from these stories we tell."

If you would like to translate or create stories on StoryWeaver and can't find your language of choice, write to us at [email protected] with your request.

Here's to spreading the joy of reading to more children in as many languages as possible.

comments (2)

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1.     What do you usually read? Which language do you prefer to read in?

Like most readers, my preferences change every few years. For the previous five or six years, I am mostly reading poems (and few stories/articles) written at least few hundred years back. It is fascinating! Given a choice, I would ONLY read Tamil books :) Mainly because there is so much to read there and I am quite comfortable reading Tamil. I usually read English books for relaxation or when my work demands it.

2.     Is there a favourite book / author and why is it a favourite?

Favourite book: there are many, don't want to name a single one :)

Favourite authors: J. K. Rowling in fiction, Nammazhvaar, Kambar and Bharathiar (All Tamil) in poetry, Sujatha (Tamil) in Nonfiction.

Reason: when you read just a few paragraphs from any of their work, you will immediately know that they care for their readers. I feel that is an important skill for an author.

3.     You have contributed for us immensely. How has the StoryWeaver journey been?

Amazing. I loved the concept of infinite stories in different languages in a single platform. I am enjoying it!

4.     Could you share one big thing that you take away from this experience?

I guess the biggest thing I learnt from StoryWeaver is that stories and images don't stop within a book.

I mean, when you read a printed picture book, you are focused on it, you complete it, close it and then you pick up the second book. A similar experience is possible with StoryWeaver too; one can read each story separately and enjoy it. But, the fun increases multifold when you look at the "picture repository". Suddenly, you see all those images at your disposal; I can mix two images from two different stories and create a third story. Someone (coming from a different background) may mix those images backwards and create a fourth story. This means you have an unlimited supply of stories, most of them may not even be written!

5.     How does it feel when your story gets published online?

It doesn't create the kind of excitement I get when I see a story published in print. But then, I am not a digital native and I still love print books. So don't take this feedback personally!

6.     You have translated / reviewed a handful of stories for us. Which one has been your favourite and why?

That would be "A Helping Hand" by Payal Dhar, illustrated by Vartika Sharma.

I enjoyed reading this story which talks about friendship and fitting in. It has an implicit message, even some scientific facts, but they don't disturb the story flow, which fills us with positivity.

7.     What is your key driver in taking this up?

Very simple, I like writing, and I keep looking for new ways to write and learn. As I told earlier, StoryWeaver gives me unlimited options to do so.

8.     How else do you think we can join hands in taking bigger steps for children’s literature?

I know there are many kids' books (stories and images) which are in public domain. I feel StoryWeaver can have a crowdsourced project to bring them to its platform.

Also, given the fact that many of your target audiences may only understand their regional language (even their mother tongue) and can't read, you can think of adding the audio capability to story pages. I mean, one volunteer can read the story and hundreds of kids can listen to it, even if they can't read that language.

9.     How has the overall experience with StoryWeaver been?

அருமை! ஒரு வாசகனாகவும் எழுதுகிறவன், மொழிபெயர்க்கிறவனாகவும் StoryWeaverஐ மிகவும் ரசிக்கிறேன்!

Excellent! I love using StoryWeaver as a reader and as a writer/translator!

10. What’s the secret behind your awesome professionalism?

Ah, finally an easy question :)

My teachers (in and out of school) taught me that professionalism is as important as (if not more important than) the talent. I am just trying to follow their advice. If at all I am doing well on this aspect, credits should go to them!

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