Spreading the charm of regional languages

With an objective to help kids for learning their native languages in a fun way, two friends; Kiran and Ranjit, who had started a website ‘Coolphabets’ five months ago, are now planning to launch an app of the same to give a easier access to children for learning.

The website sells t-shirts, mugs, pillow and phone covers by adding hand-crafted design writings in native languages on the pieces. Kiran; who hails from Vijayawada was working in Data Magnus, USA. Ranjit; hails from Hyderabad and is a Calligraphy artiste and also an IT professional.

The duo recognised the growing proliferation of English in a curriculum and its position as the first language. To overcome this, ‘Coolphabets’ was established.

Speaking to The Hans India, Ranjit explains why they chose common household items for promoting native languages. “A child is surrounded by household objects and passively imbibes the alphabet in a stress free way. We call this passive learning. In this method, learning does not happen instantly, but whatever is learnt is retained for a lifetime. Once the alphabet is learnt everything else comes naturally,” he says.

“We feel that kids are getting more and more disconnected from their native language. Many of our friends and colleagues feel the same way. Every one of us had a serious problem here. And this can be solved by building an app,” opines Kiran.

“Children these days are aware of using smart phones. In the first phase, the app (not titled yet) enables them to write Telugu alphabets like one did on a slate in the olden times. If a kid writes anything wrong, then the internal system automatically corrects it immediately, which helps the kid in quick learning.

In second phase, we will be planning to develop new software which reads in audio form about a particular alphabet or word,” he adds. Sharing details of the app Kiran says, “We have a section titled Gamification and Social Currency, which has certain levels in a game mode and bonus levels to keep children engaging.”

“We are planning to launch the app in September. Present we are available for Telugu, Tamil, Punjab and Hindi. In future we will extend it to all national languages. We are also looking for persons who have good skills in calligraphy and designing to give better products,” concludes Kiran.

By V Sateesh Reddy