We are no longer recruiting for this position! Please do continue to follow us on Social Media for other exciting positions on the Pratham Books Team! 

At Pratham Books, we believe in the power of stories – good stories. For well over a decade we have strived hard to reach children across India with a variety of award-winning stories across 18 Indian languages. With our digital crowd-sourcing platform – StoryWeaver we now share the power of stories with a global community of educators, parents, authors, illustrators and translators.

StoryWeaver is a digital repository of openly-licensed, multilingual children's stories. It allows its users to read, create and translate stories into Indian and international languages in the hope that children across the world can read quality stories in a languages of their choice.

Currently, we're looking for a full-time, Assistant - Projects to join our Digital Team in Bangalore.

As an Assistant - Projects at StoryWeaver, this is what will keep you busy:

• Working with a designer to adapt our legacy content (Pratham Books' print books) for StoryWeaver

• Co-ordinating with reviewers and proofreaders

• Support campaigns aimed at improving content on StoryWeaver

• Finding creative ways for stories on StoryWeaver to travel wide and far

• Uploading books on StoryWeaver which involves tagging stories and images in a way that makes it accessible to users

• Identifying and forging partnerships with  other open repositories to bring their stories onto StoryWeaver

Preferred Requirements

• Degree in Literature/Journalism/Mass Communication/Media /Language

• Good communication skills in English, and ability to read and write well in one South Indian language (preferably Kannada, Telugu or Tamil)

• 1-2 years of work experience; freshers may also apply

• Ability to multi-task and coordinate between different stakeholders

• Capable of working within a team and tight deadlines

• Tech-savvy

• Sharp eyes to check copy

• Love for languages

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Please send your resume to [email protected] with 'Assistant - Projects for StoryWeaver' in the subject line of the email.

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

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CONTEST DEADLINE EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 30TH, 2017

September 30th is celebrated around the world as International Translation Day. At Pratham Books StoryWeaver we take translations very seriously! After all, it’s thanks to them that we’re able to take books to so many children across India, in a language they understand.

While children love to read stories and be read to, they also love to hear and see stories enacted! Which is why this year, for International Translation Day, we thought it was time to find and share more engaging, multilingual video resources with our community. That’s where you come in!

The StoryWeaver StoryCorner contest

It’s simple, we’re sharing a list of some of our original language and translated books which we think lend themselves beautifully to reading aloud. We want you to send us a video of yourself enacting the story or reading it out loud in the most engaging way possible. The best entry will win a book hamper from Pratham Books and a signed illustration by celebrated children’s book illustrator Rajiv Eipe.

Contest Guidelines and Rules

1. Contest is open from September 30 - October 30th, 2017

2. All entries must be uploaded to YouTube and the YouTube link shared with us along with a small note about yourself and the title of the story you chose via email to [email protected]

3. Entries must not be longer than 7 mins

4. Entries of the stories shared on this page alone will be considered for the competition.

5. Contestants must be 18 years and above to participate.

6. Participants can submit more than one entry.

7. Prizes can only be couriered to an address in India.

Tips and Tricks 

1. Make sure you practice before filming. In front of the mirror or use your cats and kids as an audience.

2. Set your camera in landscape mode (horizontal)

3. Find a quiet space to film. Avoid filming near windows or in common shared spaces.

4. To reduce ambient noise, switch off fans, air conditioners and mixer grinders!

5. Remember your story could be used by our outreach partners in the classrooms they teach in. So while you might be telling the story to your camera, imagine there’s a bunch of kids listening! Really TELL the story.

Here are the books you can choose from

Pehelwanji learns a slippery lesson Available in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Urdu and Telugu.

Not now, Not now in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Odia, Telugu

Ting, Tong Telugu, Marathi, Eng-Kannada, Eng-Tamil, Eng-Hindi

I Want That One Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Urdu

Satya, Watch Out! Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil

Doong, Doong, Dum, Dum Hindi, Marathi, English-Hindi, English-Marathi, Juanga-Odia

Gulli’s Box of Things Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Odia, Telugu, Gujarati

Mouse in the House Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada

Angry Akku Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil

Aunty Jui’s Baby Marathi, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Urdu

Smart Sona Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil

Ghum Ghum Gharial’s Amazing Adventure Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil

Tok Tok Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu

Asila Basila Uthila Jaucha Kui-Odia, Hindi, Marathi

What Happened to the Old Shawl? Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi

Translations of these stories in other languages do exist, however these are by community members. Do try and choose a story from the above list that has a ‘Recommended’ tag. If you can’t find the story you’d like to narrate in a language you’re fluent in, then do go ahead and translate the story on StoryWeaver and then use it!

You can download and print the story (or stories) you will be reading aloud, or read them from a mobile phone or tablet.

Here’s a fantastic read aloud by Pratham Books editor and author extraordinaire Mala Kumar for inspiration.

If you have any questions do write to us at [email protected]

 

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Every year, StoryWeaver marks International Mother Language Day (IMLD) to remind us all that learning to read in one’s mother tongue early in school makes education more engaging, meaningful and enjoyable for children. 

Suzanne Singh, Chairperson, Pratham Books, says: ​“Children love stories and they are an ​important​ ​part​ ​of​ ​a​ ​child’s growth​ ​and​ ​development. Children need storybooks that they can relate to and that are in languages that they speak and understand. Through StoryWeaver,  we are trying to address the inequity in the availability of reading resources by providing open and free access to over 18,000 storybooks in 224 languages and fostering the respect for cultural and linguistic diversity.” 

International Mother Language Day 2022

In 2020, we're ringing in International Mother Language Day by helping volunteers conduct more than 1000 reading sessions for children in over 60 languages! This week, volunteers from around the world are using StoryWeaver’s digital repository of multilingual storybooks to read to children in several languages, including mainstream Indian languages (Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu), indigenous languages (Kuvi, Pawari, Santali), vulnerable languages (Gondi, Korku), classical languages (Sanskrit) and other languages from around the world (Arabic, Igbo, Nepali). 

30,000 schools in the state of Chhattisgarh, India (of which 15,000 are in tribal areas) have been encouraged to celebrate International Mother Language Day with StoryWeaver by giving children access to books and storytelling in indigenous languages like Gondi, Kurukh, Sadri and many more. Says Dr. M. Sudhish, Samagra Shiksha Chhattisgarh: “On January 26, the Honorable Chief Minister of Chattisgarh announced the use of mother tongue languages while teaching in classrooms. When we heard about StoryWeaver’s IMLD initiative, we felt that this was a great opportunity to take the Chief Minister’s mandate forward and bring mother tongue storytelling into the classroom.”

Additionally, we're also thrilled to announce the launch of open digital libraries in 16 underserved languages, marking the culmination of our Freedom to Read 2020 campaign, which aimed to create digital books in languages that have limited or no children’s books. Through our campaign, over 500 storybooks have been translated into languages such as Amharic (Ethiopia), Basa Jawa (Indonesia), Bodo, Tangkhul (vulnerable languages from North-East India), Kolami (vulnerable indigenous language from Maharashtra), Kochila Tharu and Rana Tharu (spoken in Nepal), Sindhi, and bilingual books in English-Surjapuri, to name a few.

International Mother Language Day 2022 | Theme

"Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities" is the focus of the 2022 International Mother Language Day, which highlights the potential of technology to enhance multilingual education and encourage the development of high-quality teaching and learning for all.

Some of the biggest problems in education today may be solved by technology. If it is governed by the fundamental concepts of inclusion and equality, efforts to ensure fair and inclusive lifetime opportunities to learn for everyone can be expedited. A crucial part of inclusion in education is mother tongue-based multilingual education.

Many nations used technology-based solutions during the COVID-19 school shut down to ensure that learning continued. However, a lot of students lacked the tools, internet access, resources, content, and human support they would have needed to pursue remote learning. Furthermore, the diversity of languages is not always reflected in the tools, programmes, and content of distant learning and teaching.

International Mother Language Day At StoryWeaver

These libraries have been co-created in collaboration with our partner organisations:

• Aripana Foundation
• Azad India Foundation
• Karunodaya Foundation
• Pragyam Foundation
• Ras Abebe Aregay Library
• Nepal Rana Tharu Samaj 
• Institute for Multilingual Education (IMLi)

And our Language Champions:

• Amina Bouiali 
• Bharti Menghani 
• Dron Sahu
• Kaleab Getachew
• Marzieh Nezakat
• Minket Lepcha
• Nazanin Karimimakhsous
• Sanjib Chaudhary
• Themreichon Leisan
• Theresia Alit

A huge shout-out to our Freedom to Read partner organisations, Language Champions, and IMLD reading volunteers! Your efforts will go a long way in helping put a book in every child's hand. THANK YOU! 

Stay tuned for more stories from the IMLD reading sessions and our Freedom to Read partners!

In the meanwhile, here are some happy moments  from our ongoing International Mother Language Day celebrations:

From a reading session in English-Surjapuri conducted by Azad India Foundation in Kishanganj, Bihar

From a reading session in Arabic conducted at the Qatar National Library

From a reading session in Kolami, conducted at DIET Yavatmal to mark the launch of an open digital library of 100 Kolami storybooks, created by Institute for Multilingual Education (IMLi) and StoryWeaver

From a reading session in Maithili conducted by Aripana Foundation at Gyan Niketan Public School, Darbhanga, Bihar

From a reading session in Amharic, by Ras Abebe Aregay Library in Ethiopia

From a reading session in Karbi, conducted by Pragyam Foundation at Parijat Academy, Guwahati, Assam

From a reading session in Marwari conducted by SNS Foundation, Rajasthan

From a Nepali reading session conducted by Nepali Rana Tharu Samaj

From a reading session conducted in Mayurbhanj, Odisha

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