I want to make a website designed to boost the literacy of Macedonian children accross the globe that are not educated in Macedonian in their formal schooling, especially in the diaspora.

On this website i'd like to start off by having some digital story books with some basic stories. I am wondering if there are any creative writers or illustraters here that would like to contribute to this idea? I am planning to keep it as a non-profit website and as such it would be a more relaxed style in the way the material is created.

Do you guys have any suggestions or expressions of interest?

very good idea!

I have a few books that are from Macedonia with kid styled poems, and such.

Cool. I have a couple of books but with longer stories. THey also have a few short poems etc. in the bukvar.

I was also wondering about possibly putting some old prikazni into the form of digital books, but i don't really know where to find them. Some of these prikazni are the ones that I used to hear as a child.

These prikazni should be clear of any copyright infrindgements too. I just need to find some..

Can any of these stories be animated? I did see a Pulp Fiction spoof using South Park style characters. Perhaps there is software for that.

It would be great to promote the site for its literary significance. You know, have a strict policy about language policies. God forbid, it might create an interest in the Republic.

pozdrav
Risto the Great

I would like to create some flash animation stuff (cartoon style), but i unfortunately don't have the time to learn flash to the detail required at this stage.

I was thinking of creating an interactive style Bukvar, where kids can click on particular objects and it reads out the word in Macedonian. Perhaps we could make the old Abecedar interactive too, or at least incorporate some of the short stories onto the website.

MKD,

I have been waiting for a site like this for ages. A place I can go and learn Macedonian at a level I am comfortable with. It is a hit with me already even though I am way past that age.

Just some simple stories in primary school level Macedonian would be great.

Great idea!

Do you think it would be good to make more use of the Internet and actually create 'Cartoons' (in video format, like the "ednooki" ones on YouTube)... telling the stories you have. [Edited to Add: Wow... just read through the thread again, seems like you guys are on top of this idea already! Great minds think alike ]

Kind of like:

Click here to read the story |
Click Here to have it Read to You |
Click here to watch the story

It's a great idea MKD. I'm sure if you contact the Ministry of Education, they will send you heaps of material. A simple email would be all it takes - they'd also help you get a lot of press when it's done, I'm sure they'll endorse it.

I have a bachelor in multimedia and have extensive flash experience... I would be glad to help! Cant draw for hell though...


Let me know...

Excellent. Thanks Volk! What do you see as the simplest material we can work on to start off with?

Maybe we can start by creating a page for the letter "A", where all of the elements on that page start with A. One of the interactive elements could be to animate the order in which the letter is written (for the really early starters). There will be pictures and associated words, for example Avion, Antena, Avtobus, Ace, Angel, Ananas. When the kid clicks on any of the objects, the word is pronounced to them. I can provide you with some pictures and the general layout for the page.

I remember in kindergarten, they usually had one letter that they focused on on a particular day or week. Perhaps this is something we could replicate by having a whole page based on a particular letter/sound, and then have a story about some sort of character that begins with that particular letter.

Does this sound doable Volk? (i.e. creating a page for the letter A). If so, i'll sketch up some images and send them to you.

Sounds good MKD! you can email me ur stuff..

Just need more info on the project;


cant right now stay in touch

MKD I can have my friend from Makedonija help in create some Flash Movies.....If you guys dont mind him helping.

Everybody's welcome. I'm hoping to brainstorm ideas here on the forum, so anyone can contribute on any level.

Let your friend know about the forum if u like. Thanks Nikolce.

Hey MKD,

We need to decide on an artistic feel. The animations should melt into the website. I got no probs with the animations, can even do them in 3D


I think nice voice overs will be needed, possibly female?

Great Idea,

It would be nice if ppl develop characters. i.e colourful, fuzzy, funny, etc depending on the level of education etc

Layout: Simple. Colourful, easy to navigate etc

Some possible examples of www templates, from

http://www.dreamtemplate.com/

Great Idea,

It would be nice if ppl develop characters. i.e colourful, fuzzy, funny, etc depending on the level of education etc

Layout: Simple. Colourful, easy to navigate etc

Some possible examples of www templates, from

http://www.dreamtemplate.com/









************************************************************

Someone mentioned copyright before.....This info could be important sice this project is for non-profit and educational

P.s. u can use copyrighted material without the copyright holder permission under "fair use", i.e for an educational, research, criticism reporting, review, purposes. Depending on the country's copyright law.


Some more info. Note this is based on Australian Law, , most countries have similar laws but can be substantially different.

From http://www.copyright.org.au


The “fair dealing” exceptions to infringement

There is no general provision in our Copyright Act allowing people to make “fair use” of copyright material
without permission. Rather, the law states that “fair dealing” with copyright material will not infringe copyright if it is done for any of the following purposes:

[i]• research or study;
• criticism or review;
• reporting news; or
• professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney or trade marks attorney.

What does “fair dealing” mean?

In this context, a “dealing” with copyright material means using the material in any of the ways reserved to the
copyright owner.
Whether a person’s use of copyright material is “fair” depends on the circumstances of the case. In a recent case,
the Federal Court stated that whether a dealing is fair or not “is to be judged by the criterion of a fair minded and
honest person”.
Courts will look both at whether an objective viewer would consider that:
• the person is genuinely using the material for one of the purposes set out in the Act; and
• their use of it is fair in that context.
Factors that may be taken into account in working out whether a use is “fair” include whether the person using
the material is doing so for commercial purposes, and whether the copyright owner is out of pocket from the use
(for example, where a person copies the whole of a work that is available for sale). However, the mere fact that
the person using the material is not making a profit does not make it fair.
In general, a person or organisation can only rely on a fair dealing defence for his, her or its own use of copyright
material. For example, it would not be regarded as a fair dealing for criticism or review to reproduce a collection



of photographs and invite other people to critique the photographs. Rather, the person making the reproduction
must themselves be making the criticism or review.
Fair dealing for research or study
Use of copyright material for the purpose of research or study will not infringe copyright, provided the use is
“fair”.
The Copyright Act states that if you use less than a certain amount of a copyright item for research or study, the
use is deemed to be fair. If the amount used exceeds these limits, the Act sets out a number of factors to be
taken into account to work out whether the use of the material is “fair”. This provision is discussed in our
information sheet Research or study.
Fair dealing for criticism or review
People can use copyright material for the purpose of criticism or review without infringing copyright, provided
they acknowledge the author and title of the work, and provided the dealing is “fair”. The criticism or review may
relate to the work being used or to other material. For example, television film reviewers may show clips from
other films as well as the one they are reviewing, in making their criticism or review.
The Federal Court has stated that “criticism and review” involves making a judgment of the material concerned,
or of the underlying ideas. Criticism and review may be strongly expressed, and may be expressed humorously,
and need not be balanced. The defence can apply where the criticism or review takes place in a commercial
context, such as in published books or newspapers or on commercial television.
However, the Court emphasised that the purpose of criticism or review must be genuine. If the person has
other motives—especially if these motives involve using the material to make a profit, or using a competitor’s
material to divert customers from the competitor—the fact that they have also engaged in a form of criticism or
review is not enough to prevent the use from infringing copyright. [/i]

It's a very good idea to develop characters, with names, etc...

This could be quite a very useful educational tool - I think you'd be better off first focusing on teaching the Alphabet, then basic words /greetings and onward from there...

As you get further into it, the characters are different / older.

Perhaps some kind of 'role play' would be useful.

You're staring at the screen and the Character asks you a question (reads it out to you), then you select a response from 3 or 4 responses, initially the responses are in English, so anyone can understand them, then as you progress through the course, they're writte in Macedonian in the latin alphabet (latinica) and as you progress even further they're written in Macedonian - cyrilic, etc) and as you progress, you decide where the conversation goes, based on your responses.

That way people become used to the general form of conversation and speaking in Macedonian.

Definately a big project, but I think that would be awesome. I mean, it could even be so great that the i.e. LOTE (Language other than english) schools where Macedonian is taught (around the world), could use it to teach their pupils, at all levels - so not just used by those who are not learning Macedonian at school in their respective country, but by all - with different levels.

Then you could add in a 'test' at certain phases where you tell them they must complete a task, like "Buy an apple from Trajko for 2 denari" and the purpose of the test is to haggle with Trajko (Interactive, Flash Question/Response form) where Trajko tries to sell you an apple for 10 denari and you talk him down, etc etc...... or whatever other ideas - The point being, they can find their feet in Macedonian, when they travel to Macedonia even if they didnt learn the language at school, they can still get around, and even converse comfortable in the future.

Here's an idea.

An animal is walking home, and on the way it gets lost. So it goes up to a cow and asks the cow 'excuse me cow, i am lost. could you please tell me the way home ?'

Then he comes to a sheep......a fox.......why not ?

If I was a kid, I'd love to read something like this.

p.

Great ideas guys!

I'll also post something that Palatica sent me the other day

I can help with proof reading. I know Macedonian very well. I got all my education in Macedonian, and I did some creative writing too. (My english is another story though ;-)