The Tibetan Aid Foundation is participating in the Children Literature in Bilingual Series initiative of the Tibetan Translation & Research Institute. The goal is to create literary resources for Tibetan children who are growing up in communities where English is becoming their first or second language. By providing these resources, we hope to support teachers in teaching the Tibetan language, encourage parents to foster their children’s learning of the Tibetan language, and most importantly, allow children to enjoy learning their mother tongue in a fun way.
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The Tibetan Translation & Research Institute was established in 2016 in collaboration with the Dalai Lama Trust. The mission is to systematically translate important modern works and all of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s books into the Tibetan language. To date, over 50 books have been translated and the Dalai Lama Trust has started publishing them. Additionally, a 32-volume modern children’s encyclopedia in the Tibetan language has been created covering science and history. The project of translating all of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s books is directly funded by the Dalai Lama Trust.
During the pandemic, the need for children to have access to reading material while stuck at home became evident. In response, the institute translated over 400 children’s books and distributed the first and second levels of over 100 books digitally. You can see more about their efforts on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/dragyur.centre), and our website: https://dragyur.org/. In 2022 the first ten books of these translations were published.
The translators who participated in this Children Literature in Bilingual Series project were Ngawang Norbu, Lobsang Dechen, Ngawang Kunga, Ourse, Sonam Gyal, Tenzin Rigsang, Sonam Jangchug, and Lungtok Gedun and Dipo Tso as proofreaders. All took part in this project voluntarily, while doing their main jobs of translating His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s books into the Tibetan. This has been the second major project undertaken by those translators free of charge.
The Children Literature in Bilingual Series will bring significant benefits to Tibetan children in the diaspora community, especially those growing up in communities where English is becoming their primary or secondary language. These books will serve as an effective tool for parents and teachers to impart the Tibetan language to the next generation, as well as to teach English through Tibetan or vice versa. Thus, the impact of these bilingual children’s books will be immediately apparent in improving children’s literacy standards. The goal is to print 1000 copies of each of the 30 children books.
Please visit the “Contribte” page of this website to participate in the project.
Tibetan Aid Foundation, Inc 