Grammar is hard. What would help Yiddish learners and children alike is a line of Yiddish Mad-lib books. This would be a fun/silly way to pass time and perfect one's Yiddish skills. I can't imagine that it would be so difficult to make up a book of Yiddish mad-libs, or even just post it as a free pdf download online.
Yiddish needs to expand its presence on YouTube. Right now a lot of results consist of speeches, songs, and performances. This is a start, but we need more original content. Living room sketches, short films, new music... Bottom line, we need more! In the spring my cousins and I made a short silly claymation movie in Yiddish (its not on youtube yet, but it will be one day).
This last idea is surely not mine, but its been floating around the Yiddish speaking community for a while: dubbing movies, tv shows, and cartoons in Yiddish. Using convincing impressions, this would be a great way to draw people to Yiddish as well as meet the entertainment needs of those who already speak the language. Short cartoons could probably be posted on youtube, and larger files could be made available to download through torrents.
All of these ideas are tangible and would not require truckloads of cash. All we need is time and dedication. Working together we can do it all.
UPDATE:
I've created a YouTube account for so as we can centralize Yiddish media online. The name is Yiddishists. If you want to post something on YouTube using this account let me know and I'll give you the password.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Travel Fund
A lot of times it's hard for Yiddishists to travel to get together. We see this all the time at the Yiddish vokh, when we see the people that DO come halfway around the world for 5 days of hanging out in Yiddish. It is sooo difficult for people to travel from, for instance, Australia, or Mexico, or Argentina, to NYC and then take a bus to the Berkshires. They spend days traveling. And we only see the smiling Yiddishists who make the trip - never the people who don't.
Wouldn't it be something to have scholarships and help with airfare for Yiddishist families to travel and see each other? If we could give funding to teenagers in Russia who are doing brilliant work in Yiddish but can't scrape together the cash for a plane ticket?
Wouldn't it be something to have scholarships and help with airfare for Yiddishist families to travel and see each other? If we could give funding to teenagers in Russia who are doing brilliant work in Yiddish but can't scrape together the cash for a plane ticket?
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The 'People Learn Yiddish From Recordings' Fund
Music is one of the most powerful language acquisition tools, especially for adults. I know this is certainly true for me, and still, after studying Yiddish for over 13 years, I find myself remembering Yiddish vocabulary words from songs. Indeed, when I'm trying to figure out whether or not something is in the accusative, I often draw on song lyrics as examples, more than on conversations I've heard or something I've read.
But, the problem is that Yiddish typography is challenging and can be expensive. It adds a lot to a CD's budget to get all the lyrics in the booklet, especially if the CD is a reissue and the original artists are not involved. I've long dreamed of a deluxe Barry Sisters/Moyshe Oysher box set with all the lyrics in Yiddish and English, as well as a musical analysis of the groundbreaking work done by both artists. A box set like this would be a monument to Yiddish-American creativity, both musical and lyrical, and would be a tremendous teaching tool.
I propose a dedicated fund for CD booklet Yiddish lyrics, Yiddish typesetting, and paying translators, where necessary. Any record company could apply for funds to pay for Yiddish lyrics/typesetting/translation/transliteration. This one fund would create a wide reaching resource for the entire Jewish world.
But, the problem is that Yiddish typography is challenging and can be expensive. It adds a lot to a CD's budget to get all the lyrics in the booklet, especially if the CD is a reissue and the original artists are not involved. I've long dreamed of a deluxe Barry Sisters/Moyshe Oysher box set with all the lyrics in Yiddish and English, as well as a musical analysis of the groundbreaking work done by both artists. A box set like this would be a monument to Yiddish-American creativity, both musical and lyrical, and would be a tremendous teaching tool.
I propose a dedicated fund for CD booklet Yiddish lyrics, Yiddish typesetting, and paying translators, where necessary. Any record company could apply for funds to pay for Yiddish lyrics/typesetting/translation/transliteration. This one fund would create a wide reaching resource for the entire Jewish world.
Zise Khaloymes
Tayere Khaverim,
Substantial, sustained funding for Yiddish infrastructure and pedagogy? Donors who understand the value of Yiddish culture for the future? Zise Khaloymes. I know.
Too many of us are struggling to realize our projects, getting by on passion and a few scraped together dollars. But our plays, magazines, reading groups and all our other projects are so precious because they are for us, by us. No ulterior motives, no Jewish babies rhetoric. We are the face of Jewish continuity, living Jewish lives in a Jewish language within rich Jewish communities. And we deserve all the funding and support that is given to any other Jewish youth movement.
I had the idea for this blog so that we can brainstorm together about our dream projects and show the mainstream Jewish world that we are not an anomaly, not a revival, not a bunch of scattered weirdos but that we are a real movement and a real community. Not all of us have the same goals or ideology, but we do all share the same belief in the inherent worth of Yiddish and Yiddish culture as an important part of Jewish life. I'm hoping that we can share ideas, inspire each other and, ultimately, demand (yes, demand!) the Jewish community allocate equal respect, and resources, to us. And the first step in that process is us figuring out what we want.
So, I ask that you think about your dream resource and write one post per project. Be as clear and specific as you can, and limit your ranting if possible. Right now you'll only be preaching to the choir.
Thank you all, and I look forward to seeing what you have to add!
-rokhl
Substantial, sustained funding for Yiddish infrastructure and pedagogy? Donors who understand the value of Yiddish culture for the future? Zise Khaloymes. I know.
Too many of us are struggling to realize our projects, getting by on passion and a few scraped together dollars. But our plays, magazines, reading groups and all our other projects are so precious because they are for us, by us. No ulterior motives, no Jewish babies rhetoric. We are the face of Jewish continuity, living Jewish lives in a Jewish language within rich Jewish communities. And we deserve all the funding and support that is given to any other Jewish youth movement.
I had the idea for this blog so that we can brainstorm together about our dream projects and show the mainstream Jewish world that we are not an anomaly, not a revival, not a bunch of scattered weirdos but that we are a real movement and a real community. Not all of us have the same goals or ideology, but we do all share the same belief in the inherent worth of Yiddish and Yiddish culture as an important part of Jewish life. I'm hoping that we can share ideas, inspire each other and, ultimately, demand (yes, demand!) the Jewish community allocate equal respect, and resources, to us. And the first step in that process is us figuring out what we want.
So, I ask that you think about your dream resource and write one post per project. Be as clear and specific as you can, and limit your ranting if possible. Right now you'll only be preaching to the choir.
Thank you all, and I look forward to seeing what you have to add!
-rokhl
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