Abstract:

The use of Easy Language and Easy to Read books is growing in several countries. In some states there are already laws aiming at making information and culture available for all through Easy Language. Easy to Read texts also support the inclusion of minorities, migrants and multilinguals, less skilled or unfamiliar readers and people with dyslexia or reading difficulties. Today an Easy Language (a simpler language variation) has been developed for several majority languages, but the use of Easy Language and Easy to Read books for minority and endangered language preservation, language skills development and revitalisation is an innovative approach. A pioneering project was launched by the multilingual publisher Bokpil, author Sabira Stahlberg and the Tatar community in Finland in 2019. It has so far resulted in the translation and publication of six Easy to Read books. The language in the books is International Tatar (halıkara tatarça) and they are published in the Latin script. The books are targeted at the Tatar diaspora and they are available for free on the internet for readers worldwide. The Easy to Read books are already being used as reading and language learning materials in families and in the Tatar-language weekend school in Helsinki. The goals of the Easy to Read project are supporting literacy, development of stable reading skills and creation of regular reading habits in the minority language, in this case Tatar. Increasing and encouraging Tatar language use among children and youth and also to inspire adult readers to use their home language in new contexts and enrich their vocabulary are further goals. The project has already received international attention from readers and researchers. This article documents the background and implementation of the Tatar Easy to Read project, the work of the translator and the editing team SelkoTatar (‘EasyLanguage Tatar’, a combination of Finnish selkokieli ‘Easy Language’ and Tatar) in creating an internationally understandable Tatar Easy Language, and some perspectives for other minority or endangered languages.

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