science

Wikitongues

Wikitongues is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wikitongues rather than just read about it. In short: Wikitongues is an American non-profit organization registered in the state of New York. It aims to sustain and promote all the languages in the world.

Key takeaways

Wikitongues belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wikitongues to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wikitongues from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wikitongues is an American non-profit organization registered in the state of New York. It aims to sustain and promote all the languages in the world. It was founded by Frederico Andrade, Daniel Bögre Udell and Lindie Botes in 2014.

Oral histories

By May 2016, Wikitongues had recorded around 329 videos in over 200 languages. As of 2018, they have recorded more than 350 languages, or 5% of the languages in the world. They also have 15% of their videos subtitled through the organization Amara, formerly known as Universal Subtitles, which is a web-based non-profit project that hosts and allows user-subtitled video to be accessed and created.

Poly Poly is open-source software built to share and learn languages. The project was supported on Kickstarter and the organization was able to raise US$52,716 with the help of 429 backers. Currently the software is under development.

Methods Wikitongues share its methods and tools online, such as the Language Sustainability Toolkit.

References

Further media "Saving Languages From Extinction". Great Big Story. YouTube. 17 April 2019. Elmasry, Faiza (12 February 2019). "Wikitongues Seeks to Save World's Dying Languages". Voice of America.

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wikitongues

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wikitongues claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wikitongues before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wikitongues ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wikitongues

In research: Wikitongues appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wikitongues in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wikitongues is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2014 establishments in New York City, American organizations established in 2014, Language revival, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wikitongues outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wikitongues in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wikitongues means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wikitongues out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wikitongues in simple terms?

Wikitongues is an American non-profit organization registered in the state of New York. It aims to sustain and promote all the languages in the world.

Why does Wikitongues matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wikitongues?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wikitongues.