Endangered Language Alliance

Tomorrow!

Join us next Friday 9/13 at 5 pm at ELA (3 W 18th St) for a free, intimate conversation via calligraphy about the disappearing aesthetics of letterforms.

Rajeev Prakash aka Fontwala—calligraphy artist, typographer and font designer—went from painting advertisements on walls in his hometown in India in the 1970s to designing a computer font for Devanagari in the 90s.

Through calligraphy he shares the journey of letterforms that continue to survive. Read more at http://rajeevfontwala.com and
https://shubhra.site/portfolio/fontwala.html.

Special thanks to Shubhra Prakash

Join us next Friday 9/13 at 5 pm at ELA (3 W 18th St) for a free, intimate conversation via calligraphy about the disappearing aesthetics of letterforms.

Rajeev Prakash aka Fontwala—calligraphy artist, typographer and font designer—went from painting advertisements on walls in his hometown in India in the 1970s to designing a computer font for Devanagari in the 90s.

Through calligraphy he shares the journey of letterforms that continue to survive. Read more at http://rajeevfontwala.com and
https://shubhra.site/portfolio/fontwala.html.

Special thanks to Shubhra Prakash

Featuring Kewulay Kamara, Irwin Sanchez, Dimitris Stefanidis, Tenzin Donsel, Malcolm Opoku, Shubhra Prakash, Julia Xi Gu

Get ready for Language City, an outdoor performance series about the past, present, and future of New York — the world’s most linguistically diverse city.

The project is a collaboration between ELA and Gung Ho Projects, premiering at Little Island NYC, Manhattan’s extraordinary new park, on August 14, 15, 17, and 18 at 6:30 pm (note no Friday performance).

All shows are free and no tickets are required!

Featuring text adapted from the book Language City as well as documentary film, live music, and poetry in some of the city’s more than 300 endangered, Indigenous, and minority languages, including Tibetan, Kuranko, Nahuatl, and Pontic Greek (performers below—photos by Cinthia Chen).

Our new online "store" is live!

Check out https://elalliance.myshopify.com/, where it's now much easier to donate any amount to ELA or give to get one of our maps, t-shirts, or storybooks. We'll have the store integrated into the ELA site soon as well. Let us know if you have any issues—and thanks as always for supporting linguistic diversity.

Endangered Language Alliance Online Store What better way to say "I love you" than to say "I love NY", in all six word orders found across human languages? Or a language map?

ELA's Ross Perlin talks about languages and cities tomorrow evening at Mundolingua in Paris: 19h30m at Mundolingua
10 Rue Servandoni. Come one and all!

Demain soir à Mundolingua à Paris : 19h30 à Mundolingua
10, rue Servandoni. Venez nombreux !

Our-Town Artist in Residence 2024-2025 - El Museo del Barrio Talk of the Town Artist-in-Residence with Indigenous and Endangered language communities About Key DatesSubmission Information Key DetailsFAQs Ver en Español > El Museo del Barrio in partnership with the NYC Mayor’s […]

The legendary Zlatne Uste is back!

Zlatne Uste Golden Festival Explore The Colourful World A Wonderful Gift Learn More “Fuerat aestu carentem habentia spectent tonitrua mutastis locavit liberioris.” – Adam Sendler Upcoming Events Everest Camp Trek Fuerat aestu carentem habentia spectent tonitrua mutastis locavit liberioris inistra possedit. Learn More Wal...

Basque poetry and pintxos in Greenpoint — SATURDAY!

Anonyme Popular. Live event with Igor Elortza and Rafa Rueda Audiovisual bertsoak, written for the present time.

Mañana en ELA / Tomorrow at ELA

At Queens World Film Festival this Sunday, "Nearly Forgotten" is a double feature which includes AQUÍ SEGUIMOS (Still Here)—following Daria and Teresa, speakers of the endangered Indigenous Ku’ahl language of Baja California. Use the code QW5050 for 50% on checkout on Eventbrite

Nearly Forgotten: 2 films that Shed Light on Treasures in Rural America. Nearly Forgotten: 2 films that Shed Light on Treasures in Rural America.

Thursday!

“Nothing could be more alien to our multilingual history and reality — not to mention our cognitive and communicative freedom — than the imposition of English or any single standard language.”

Read the full NY Times piece at link in bio

Tomorrow!

[ONLINE] - Ross Perlin, Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York Join the New America Fellows Program for a conversation with 2024 National Fellow Atossa Abrahamian and 2023 New Arizona Fellow Ross Perlin

ICYMI: ELA and LANGUAGE CITY in the New York Times Magazine, with our recordings and stunning portraits of our remarkable speaker-collaborators by Ruven Afanador

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/22/magazine/endangered-languages-nyc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.XU0.DQr8.OOSv4RkbLsr_&smid=url-share

ELA Co-Director Ross Perlin's new book "Language City" comes out a week from today, just in time for .

It's the story of the Endangered Language Alliance and of six speakers who've brought their languages to NYC from very different parts of the world: Seke, Wakhi, Yiddish, N'ko, Nahuatl, Lenape.

It's also the story of the most linguistically diverse place in history, today's New York City—with resonances around languages and cities, immigration and diaspora, and the future of linguistic diversity more broadly.

Buy the book at your local bookstore or via Bookshop.org (on sale!), or Barnes & Noble, Amazon etc.

Thank you for sharing and supporting!

Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York a book by Ross Perlin From the co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance, a captivating portrait of contemporary New York City through six speakers of little-known and overlooked languages, diving into the incredible history of the most linguistically diverse place ever to have existed on the planetHalf of all 7,00...

Ni'jpy pyä'k pä'm (Diabetes) - Ayuujk (Mixe)

Caballito de otate - Tu'un Savi (Mixteco)

From our friend Jonathan Amith, as recorded in Yoloxóchitl, Guerrero

Caballito de otate (subtítulos en español) En este video en mixteco (con subtítulos en español) Esteban Guadalupe Sierra lleva a su hijo Iván Guadalupe Cirilo al campo para enseñarle como se talla un ...

Mark your calendars!

In just a couple months, Ross Perlin's enthralling LANGUAGE CITY hits stands and we can't wait to celebrate at the Strand Book Store with the Endangered Language Alliance!

"Language City is a celebration of one city and all humanity, and you should read it.”—Rebecca Solnit