March 25, 2005
MEDIA CONTACT: Caroline Witherspoon
or Jocelyn Collado
Becker Communications
(808) 533-4165
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LANGUAGE PRESERVATION PROJECT PROMOTES PROGRAM AT BISHOP MUSEUM EVENTS ON APRIL 2 AND 9

HONOLULU – Originally formed as a community service project two years ago, the Language Documentation Project (LDP) continues its social mission by training students from countries with endangered languages on how to document their languages and to apply for grants to expand their projects. Through the program, graduate students in linguistics are provided with an opportunity to pass on their training and skills. In the process, everyone broadens their cultural knowledge and is motivated by the importance of language preservation.

As a part of their business plan to transform the LDP into the leading language documentation center in the Asia Pacific region, the project is exhibiting its work through venues across the state, with the first of these exhibitions at the Bishop Museum on April 2nd from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on April 9th from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. as a part of museum events “Journey With A King Celebration” and “Mad About Science Festival” respectively.

Through the exhibitions of the project, the LDP will present an interactive world map that allows visitors to select languages on the screen and hear greetings in some of the endangered languages from around the world. Demonstrations of how to access the virtual museum of languages archived on the projects website will also be presented. The project utilizes computer software to improve the documentation and archiving process and places its resources on the Internet for speakers of the languages documented as well as other researchers to access them.

Native speakers who have been working on the project will also be present at the booth and will proudly display creative works of their culture and language. LDP Team member Phillip Lee, enthusiastic about the exhibition at the Bishop Museum, said, “As we continue to form more partnerships with organizations in Hawai‘i, like the Bishop Museum, we will be able to enlarge our social mission. It is impressive how Hawai‘i has developed its culture and language and I believe as we have more intercultural exchanges, we will learn and enrich each other’s cultures. We will even help other in preserving their culture.”

Bishop Museum’s “Journey With A King Celebration” marks the opening of the newest exhibit at the museum, Journey With A King. As a part of the celebration, the Konan Brass Ensemble from Japan and Le Jardin Academy’s Honors Ukulele Choir will perform. The “Mad About Science Festival” will host a number of hands-on, interactive science experiments for families to enjoy.

For more information about the Language Documentation project, call (808) 956-9166 or visit http://www.ling.lll.hawaii.edu/~uhdoc/.

A treasured resource of Hawaiian history and heritage, Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop as a tribute to his wife Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha dynasty. Located at 1525 Bernice Street, the Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $14.95 for adults; $11.95 for youth 4-12 years; special rates for kama‘āina, seniors and military; children under 4 years and Bishop Museum members are free. For information, call 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.