Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 133 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Community-driven project keeps unique dialect alive

Dariya Baiguzhiyeva

February 05, 2021 |

TimminsToday |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada, Moose Factory, Ontario

The Moose Factory’s Community Language Project is part of a decade-long program to maintain the "L" dialect of the Moose Cree people alive. Through phone calls, in-person visits, the project's leaders are compiling as many words as possible, and have already published four versions of a dictionary, the last one was a digital version and contains around 27,000 entries. There are also children's books and grammar books available as well.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Reviving the Cherokee Language Is a Full-Time Job – Literally

Kristi Eaton

February 04, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Cherokee Nation, United States, Oklahoma

The Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program is an immersion program that pays adults to learn the Cherokee language, which is quickly disappearing yet important for preserving Cherokee culture. The program requires 40 hours a week for two years and participants are paid $10 per hour as an incentive to focus on their studies. When creating the curriculum, the Cherokee Nation looked to other Native Nations with initiatives to preserve Native cultures and languages. The program has grown over the past six years and now, when fully filled, has 32 participants taking part in the two-year program.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How California teachers are making bilingual education work online

Zaidee Stavely

November 06, 2020 |

EdSource |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Fresno, California

Teachers in some California dual-language classrooms are coming up with creative ways to help students practice and learn languages during remote-only learning. Across Fresno Unified School District, teachers develop and share lessons, record videos, and have students use educational programs like Flipgrid or Seesaw so students can record themselves speaking Spanish. During some Zoom breakout groups, teachers select a fluent language speaker in the group to model pronunciation for others.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Innovative program helps Lawrence, MA, get off the mat

Tom Condon

November 02, 2020 |

The Connecticut Mirror |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Lawrence, Massachusetts

A program in Lawrence, MA has helped hundreds of families to enter the paid labor force by connecting with them via their children’s’ schools. Using a $700,000 grant, the program connects with parents when they register a child for school. Schools offer programs through resource centers that help them get the training and connections needed to find a job. Oftentimes the parents also get an actual job referral. A key component of the program is English language training as well as skills courses in healthcare, education, manufacturing, and other fields.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Carlsbad Literacy Program begins in-person instruction after months of closure

Miranda Cyr

October 02, 2020 |

Las Cruces Sun-News |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Carlsbad, New Mexico

The Carlsbad Literacy Program provides free tutoring to adults who want help with their literacy skills. The program's students in the program include English language learners, and also helps with citizenship skills, and preparing for the High School Equivalency Test. The program is a nonprofit, which started in 1985, and relies on volunteers to serve as tutors.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Harvard medical student knocks down a big barrier to COVID-19 info

Julia Sklar

September 26, 2020 |

The Boston Globe |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

A volunteer organization is helping to address a language barrier as it pertains to COVID-19 by translating and distributing public health information in the native languages of tribes. Although this is not as simple as translating word-for-word since some of the words do not exist in the local dialects and because some of the guidelines are not practical for the communities, the organization has translated the health sheets into 45 different languages and has worked with "schoolchildren in the tribe to act as conduits for the information."

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Angela Merkel's great migrant gamble paid off

Philip Oltermann

August 30, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany

Five years after Germany sparked controversy with a welcoming message to the flood of refugees applying for asylum, more than half of those 1.7 million refugees have work and pay taxes, their youth show strong signs of belonging to their German communities, and more than 10,000 have mastered the language enough to enroll in German universities. Refuting anti-immigrant skeptics meant overcoming, or enduring, enormous social and economic challenges. Despite many bumps, the policy now appears to have avoided the nightmare scenarios foreseen by critics, such as inviting even more refugees.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Can infusing western education revive northern Nigeria's Almajiranci system?

Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu

June 21, 2020 |

Minority Africa |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Niger

The Almajiranci system has been criticized for not integrating Western education and English lessons. To solve the issue, Malam Na’ibi, who owns an Almajiri school, started homeschooling around 30 students on subjects like math and English. These students can’t afford to attend schools that integrate Western education. “I just want to be able to speak the English language. I have never missed a class since we started.” Almajiranci school experts say the homeschooling method employed by Malam Na’ibi is exemplary of inclusive educational reforms that need to happen with the wider Almajiranci school system.

Read More
Go to Original Story
‘I just need a connection': the refugees teaching languages across borders

Ruth Michaelson

June 17, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Lebanon

NaTakallam offers classes in Arabic, Spanish, Persian and French that are taught by refugees. The 64 teachers conduct classes with 770 students entirely online, allowing people from all over the world to learn from native speakers. It also circumvents work restrictions for refugees in their new homes, which means they can earn money. The group’s teachers also speak in university classes, offer translation services, and some now work on New York University’s Arabic-language program. Deep friendships that help combat the isolation experienced by many refugees have also emerged from the online classes.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Teton County shows promise in paying off 'education debt'

Tom Hallberg

June 03, 2020 |

Jackson Hole News & Guide |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Wyoming

Schools in Teton County are successfully addressing the achievement gap between English language learners, kids who don't have a strong grasp on English, and white students by taking a holistic approach. In order to improve graduation rates among ELL students, teachers, and administrators are focused on early interventions like additional lessons, and a funding model that offers more flexibility for the school's resource allocation. “If all of our students don’t feel connected to school culturally, it doesn’t matter what you do, they won’t do well.”

Read More
Go to Original Story