Ethnic minority children continue to learn to read in languages which have no connection to their home and community. This disconnect often results in low levels of learning and motivation, and high dropout rates from school. This was a situation that particularly affects the Karen in northern Thailand, with an estimated population of around 100,000 in the Thai provinces of Chiangmai and Mae Hongson. For this proof-of-concept project, The Asia Foundation has built, tested, and deployed a mobile-first, end-to-end localization tool designed to be used by a community of users to translate majority language texts into ePub-formatted minority languages books. This novel, scalable project contributed to a significant expansion of the available library of mother tongue children’s books, created both a digital and a printable version of these books, established an open online library of minority language content, and delivered a mobile app capable of searching the library and downloading ePub formatted titles on local Android devices. Equally important to the success of the project was The Asia Foundation Thailand’s unique ability to engage and partner with ethnic minority civil society organizations, education officials, and regional language specialists from design through implementation.

Asia is home to over two thousand minority languages whose speakers are among the region’s most marginalized populations. It is now widely understood that mother tongue-based education, in which students begin their education in the same language that is spoken in their home and community before transitioning to a more widely used national language, is the key to unlocking literacy and improving educational outcomes and economic opportunities (UNESCO, 2005). Although national governments in Asia are increasingly adopting mother tongue policies for early grade education, communities are unable to put policies into practice because few mother tongue reading resources actually exist. As a result, ethnic minority children continue to learn to read in languages which have no connection to their home and community. This disconnect often results in low levels of learning and motivation, and high dropout rates from school. This is a situation that particularly affects the Karen in northern Thailand, with an estimated population of around 100,000 in the Thai provinces of Chiangmai and Mae Hongson. For this proof-of-concept project, The Asia Foundation will build, test, and deploy a novel, scalable, end-to-end localization tool designed to be used by a community of users to translate majority language texts into ePub-formatted minority language books.

The My Community Reader project contributed to a significant expansion of the available library of mother tongue children’s books, create digital versions of these books, establish an open online library of minority language content, and deliver a mobile app capable of searching the library and downloading ePub formatted titles on local Android devices. Equally important to the success of the project was The Asia Foundation Thailand’s unique ability to engage from the outset with ethnic minority civil society organizations, education officials, and regional language specialists to:

1) formulated the project in a manner that addresses local needs and is sensitive to the special circumstances of minority language communities; 2) drew on community members to create, source, and vet story content and illustrations; 3) crowdsource translations; and 4) promoted the adoption of the free storybook reader app. In addition, the platform generated both ePubs and file formats suitable for local printing, which enabled activities facilitated by Asia Foundation partners to involve parents, communities, and children whether or not they participate in formal schooling.