Supporting minority languages and Wikimedia's global community
08-09, 10:00–10:40 (Poland), Tbilisi (7)
Language: English

Smaller languages communities need to promote themselves online, Wikimedia is a key ally in this journey. How can we better collaborate with local communities ?


Contemporary humans have developed 7,167 natural languages, 331 have secured a Wikipedia which then becomes de facto central online hub for those communities. 95.4% (~6,800) of the linguistic diversity isnt supported by Wikimedia while half (3,500) are expected to disappear in coming 70 years.

How can wikimedians help knowledgeable communities to promote their language ?
- Landscape of lesser resource languages and Wikimedia
- Positive experiences
- Challenging experiences
- Which solutions, who can help within Wikimedia ?
- Can incoming technologies help ?

These questions will be discussed by experienced language documentation, conservation, and revitalization panel members.

Recording session: https://youtu.be/LedziGgRqZU?t=3280


How does your session relate to the event themes: Collaboration of the Open?*

Aim to clarify collaboration with outside actors such as local group and academia

What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?*

Everyone can participate in this session

How do you plan to deliver this session?*

Onsite in Katowice

What other themes or topics does your session fit into? Please choose from the list of tags below.

Conferences, Capacity building

See also: Presentation on Google Drive (ongoing)

Hugo Lopez is the lead facilitator of Lingualibre.org, a platform dedicated to audio documentation and open dictionary creation, since the early 2010s. He has collaborated with numerous language communities worldwide, focusing on language preservation, the creation of open educational resources, and language revitalization efforts.

Among his recent projects, Hugo has worked on an e-dictionary for Whistled Occitan, a revitalization initiative for the endangered language of his ancestors, Occitan.

At Wikimania 2024, Hugo will advocate for stronger collaboration between indigenous communities and the Wikimedia movement to better protect and promote local languages.

I've been a Wikimedian for 19 years, and am involved in language support and technology. I am part of the Wikimedia Language Committee, and the maintainer of the Wikimedia Incubator extension. I work as a Community Outreach Specialist in Wikimedia Norge, the Norwegian Wikimedia chapter.

This speaker also appears in:

A certified Wikipedia trainer and Brand Ambassador for Curationist.org. I am also the executive director and co-founder of the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group and a steering committee member of the Wikimedia Language Diversity Hub.

This speaker also appears in:

Mayaw is Taiwanese Wikimedian and an Amis Wikipedia contributor. Amis Wikipedia now has 1,000+ articles serving a portion of the 20,000 Amis speakers. It is the largest Amis language website, and a cornerstone of Amis language conservation.

-Javanese and Indonesian Wikimedian.
Username: Kunirasem

This speaker also appears in:

I am the Programs Director at Wikitongues and am on the steering committee for the Language Diversity Hub. We work with communities, internal and external from Wikimedia, to promote, preserve, and revitalization their languages.

I design and execute projects that can be aligned with the Wikimedia Movement Strategy, for instance, by reducing the gap for underrepresented communities as the Quechua community is. I lead the QICHWABASE Knowledge Graph that supports a harmonization process of the language and knowledge of Quechua communities across the world.
More about me: elwin.huamanquispe.com