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| Type | Nonprofit organization |
|---|---|
| Legal status | U.S. 501(c)(3) India 80(G) |
| Focus | Literacy |
| Region | India |
| Services | Same Language Subtitling |
| President | Brij Kothari |
| Chief Operating Officer | Nirav Shah |
| Website | planetread |
PlanetRead is a non-profit founded by Ashoka Fellow, Brij Kothari, to provide Same Language Subtitling on Bollywood music videos in the same language that they are sung in to promote functional literacy. There are an estimated 650 million literate people in India. In reality, half the so-called ‘literates,’ more than 300 million people, can best be called ‘early-literate.’ They cannot read, for example, newspaper headlines.
Same language subtitling
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Same Language Subtitling (SLS) has been implemented on existing Bollywood film songs on TV, in 10 languages:
A Hindi song is shown with the lyrics subtitled in Hindi, Tamil songs with Tamil subtitles, and so on. What you hear is what you read. The subtitles are designed to change the color of every word in perfect timing with the song. SLS is cost-effective. On a Hindi program, one U.S. dollar gives reading practice to 5,000 people for one year.
IIM Ahmedabad and PlanetRead Trust have nationally implemented SLS in partnership with Doordarshan. Donors have included:
- All Children Reading (USAID)
- Google Foundation
- Sir Ratan Tata Trust
- Development Marketplace (World Bank)
- Dell Giving
- Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India
Media coverage
PlanetRead has been featured by The Economist, The Boston Globe, The Huffington Post, The World Bank, and Extreme Tech. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton also spoke about the importance PlanetRead and Same Language Subtitling.
PlanetRead has conducted many studies demonstrating the positive impact of Same Language Subtitling. Their most recent study was in August 2015.
PlanetRead also has all their show times on their website.
See also
References
- "Team". PlanetRead. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
- "A bolly good read". The Economist. 25 April 2015. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- Shah, Riddhi (19 September 2010). "Watch and learn". Boston Globe. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- Kothari, Brij (12 February 2015). "A Prime Minister Gets the Innovation Ball Rolling". Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- Trucano, Michael (31 January 2014). "Bollywood Karaoke and Same Language Subtitling to Promote Literacy". EduTech. World Bank. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
- Davies, Nicola (12 June 2015). "Keeping it simple: The next technology revolution". ExtremeTech. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- Bill Clinton (10 October 2009). Clinton Global Initiative: 'Same Language Subtitling' on TV for Mass Literacy in India (Video). PlanetRead – via YouTube.
- "Research on Same-Language-Subtitling". Same-Language-Subtitling. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
- "SLS Group". PlanetRead. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
- Same Language Subtitling on TV: Putting Children's Reading Literacy on a Path to Lifelong Practice and Improvement (PDF) (Executive Summary). Puducherry, India: PlanetRead. 4 August 2015.
- "Programs that have been telecast with Same Language Subtitling". PlanetRead. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
External links
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