Become a Contributor › Conlangs/Dialects

Conlangs

If my language is a constructed language (conlang) or auxiliary language (auxlang), can I still translate stories into that language?

While the primary focus of this project is to feature natural languages, we acknowledge that some conlangs/auxlangs are used to a similar extent as some minor natural languages. Esperanto is a well-known example with thousands of speakers worldwide. Especially because it is also taught on Duolingo, it makes sense to include it here.

When is a conlang/auxlang established enough to be featured on the website?

In order to maximize the benefits to learners, we will be more interested in featuring a conlang/auxlang when we see some of these factors, so please be sure to discuss them in your application.

  • There are a significant number of speakers/learners of the language (e.g. > 100)
  • The language has been in development for a significant period of time (e.g. 10+ years)
  • There are other websites or texts that provide material on the language (e.g. an official dictionary)
  • The language has received some degree of notoriety in the conlang/auxlang community (e.g. received awards, featured in articles/videos)
  • The language has its own Wikipedia edition (e.g. https://eo.wikipedia.org/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias) and/or an ISO code (e.g. Esperanto, “epo”)

If your language is a personal conlang/auxlang project or a very new project from a small group, we are hesitant to support the language as we do not see clear value for our community of learners. When we do allow these smaller languages access to the project, we will not feature them on the main page of Duostories.org. The course contributor would be given a direct link to share with interested learners.

Dialects

Can I translate stories into a dialect or regionally-specific language?

We are hesitant to support languages that are too regionally-specific because at times they are not well-defined enough that a course would even make sense to learners. Applications for dialects/regional languages will be considered against a set of factors on a case-by-case basis. It might be a “yes” if your language:

  • Is classified as an “endangered” language
  • Has a well-defined written form and spelling
  • Has an ISO code
  • Has a language foundation or association to support it
  • Has a broad body of published literature