This homepage is part of a project within the National Agency for Education (Skolverket) and forms a part of the National Agency for Education School Network. The Centre for Bilingualism, City of Vasteras (Västerås), is the project owner.
The overarching goal of the project is to preserve and develop the Kurdish language by using the homepage as a meeting place between Kurdish teachers, students and parents. Furthermore the homepage can be used as an information base, where you can use the material published on the homepage as well as forum for dialogue between the National Agency for Education and the Kurdish students, teachers and parents.
To further the development of the homepage a working party was formed in 2001 by the following educationalists and technicians:
• Haydar Diljen, writer and Kurdish teacher
• Kamal Mavane, IT-expert
• Sabiha Otlu, teacher in Kurdish, Swedish as a second language, natural science och mathematics, special education
• Tahsîn Aslan, Kurdish teacher
This group is responsible for the contents of the homepage and its development. The group conducts its work according to a policy which was issued by the Swedish National Agency for School Improvement and the protocol between City of Västerås and the Swedish National Agency for School Improvement. This project was financed by the Swedish Agency for School Improvement.
Background:
This homepage was created year 2000 with the name “Diljen – The Kurdish School”, by Haydar Diljen. It was later presented to the Swedish National Agency for Education. The Swedish National Agency for Education decided to develop the homepage as a pilot project. Municipality of Vasteras with Centrum for bilingualism as the municality headman, took economical and practical responsibility for the homepage.
Mehdi Cilgin was responsible for the technical development in the beginning of the project and made valuable contributions for the homepage. Cilgin was the homepages first webmaster and built the homepage according to ours and the target groups wishes. He left the project after awhile and was replaced with Kemal Mavane. Kemal Mavane developed the layout of the homepage and made it beautiful. During the project the members of the group developed their skills in web pedagogy and web technology and today all members knows how to do the tasks of the webmaster.
During the years 2000-2005 we changed the design of the north Kurdish homepage five times.
In august 2003 we changed the technology to PHP and we have created or adapted the PHP technique to match our needs. Thanks to this new technique the interactive dialogue between us and our target group has been made faster and more easier to use.
The homepage contains the following parts:
News: Here we publicize news about the school environment, culture and questions regarding language, material for learning, child and youth literature. This part draws a lot of visitors.
Kurdish education: In this part we find the following headlines: the alphabet, class suggestions, Kurdish grammar, syllabi, educational books, Kurdistan, Newroz, student work, Kurdish in the world, culture-folklore, fairytales, games, language exercises, funny stories, e-book, information about the members of the group. The Kurdish alphabet: Here we find the Kurdish alphabet with sound, images and text. Here you can practice sound and Kurdish letters.
Class suggestions: Here four levels of class material has been grouped and adapted to the age of the student. Beneath each headline, after certain themes, there are texts and exercises. Here the material for pre- school children takes up a lot of space.
Kurdish grammar: Here we find an overarching image of the contents of Kurdish grammar. There are texts and grammatical exercises to be found here which our visitors can use. However this part is yet under construction.
Syllabi: Here there are examples of Kurdish syllabi for different age groups that Kurdish teachers, students, and other interested people can find useful.
Teaching material: A list over the teaching material/aid that we have found can be found here. Also the Kurdish book publishers who publish Kurdish textbooks are linked.
Kurdistan: Here space has been allocated for information about the Kurds and Kurdistan. It will be accessible in many different languages like: Kurdish, Swedish, Turkish and English. Depending on resources, the information will also be accessible in other languages. This part will have the function of a knowledge and information source for Kurdish students as well as for others non- Kurdish speakers. Links that lead to additional information about Kurdistan will also be available here. This part is for the time being under construction.
Newroz: Newroz is the Kurdish national day and is greatly celebrated. Newroz is also celebrated by other ethnic groups in Asia, for example: Iranians, Beluchians, and Afghans. That’s why we have set aside a special department for Newroz. For example we here find texts, images, poems, songs and a memory game. Class material for teachers on how to have a class about Newroz can also be found here.
Student material: Here you can find student material that we got from students or teachers. Here the material from high school students gets a lot of space. This part is open for all the interested Kurdish students. They are most welcome to send in their material to us for publishing.
Kurdish in the World: For the moment there is information about mother tongue education in some European countries here. This is where “Kurdish in Sweden” and the Swedish model for mother tongue education especially receives space.
Furthermore there is information about Kurdish as mothertounge in Sweden from a historical perspective to be found here. This part also contains statistics. All Kurdish speaking people that are interested in the Swedish educational system, mothertounge education, and work for the kurdish language in Sweden can take part of the information that is presented here.
On the long term we which to collect all the fact based information about mothertounge education in Kurdistan and other countries here.
Culture and folklore: Some examples of the Kurdish culture: blessings, curses, proverbs, fairytales, funny stories are to be found here.
Fairy tales: This is where you find fairy tales in the form of multimedia, that is: images, sound, and text. The Kurdish fairy tales play a significant part in the perseverance of the Kurdish language. This is why we have arranged a special section for them. This section attracts the most part of our visitors.
Games: Here are digital games according to certain themes. Our main goal with these kinds of games is to make the Kurdish language attractive for children or students. Here we find some theme based memory. We will on a continuous basis add new games.
Films: Here we find cartoons for children. The films come in two formats: one for modem users and one for broadband users. Once again we would like to thank Mezopotamya TV for giving us the rights to publish these films on our homepage.
Language exercises: Language exercises can be found here. These also come with class suggestions.
Funny stories: This is where we have placed funny stories written by Mahmud Lewndi and illustrated by Mamoste. We will also add other funny stories here.
Info about the work group: Here you find information about the members of the work group. The work group is responsible for the design and contents of the homepage. That is why it is important to know how is part of the group.
Dimilî (zazakî): Dimilî is a kurdish dialect which is spoken by 3 million Kurds in northern Kurdistan (for example in: Diyarbekir, Çevlik (Bingol), Elezîz, Sîverek, Erzîncan, Dersîm). Here you find the alphabet, class material, fairy tales, games, guestbook, and links amongst other things.
Test material: We published this part in 2005. Here there is test material for different subjects like the Kurdish language, geography, history, religion and so forth. For those who which can measure their knowledge of these different subjects. To be able to use this material you have to register as a member which is a simple procedure.
Articles and presentations: Here you find articles and presentations about education and language matters.
Rapports and folders: This is where you find rapports about our activities travels abroad for example: Mai Beijers rapport from the Diyarbakir trip 2004, Haydar Diljens rapport from the Turkish teachers’ union symposium about mothertounge education in Ankara and so forth.
Pictures: Here you can find an album containing pictures from our activities and teaching environment in and on Kurdish. Pictures of the Kurdish teachers and students dominate this album.
Menu:
Here there are interactive services: poll, archive, search, links, to send news, forum, questions and answers, your page and so forth. The news or texts that we publish is archived according to date and subject. All the words that are in the text functions as key words in the search engine. Our members and other visitors can add their own links that they find relevant for our database.
Forum: We have divided our forum into two main rooms: Education forum and Teacher forum. Below the education forum there is three small rooms:
* Language questions
* Teaching aid
* Various questions
Here our members can write their own thoughts and ideas of the above mentioned subjects. The discussion forum and the post board are both interactive parts. The purpose of a dialogue between students of Kurdish is for them to practice their language and to make progress. Furthermore this part is supposed to function as a forum for thoughts and opinions. However, smearing of ethnic, religious, or of sexual nature of persons or groups is not allowed. Texts that contain this form of smearing will immediately be removed.
The teachers tips and ideas: This part is for the teachers tips and ideas. The teachers can exchange their own experiences. We are convinced that this kind of dialogue facilitates the Kurdish mother tongue education.
Questions and answers: We get many questions regarding the Kurdish language and mother tounge education. A large part of these questions have the same content. We have established a special place for these types of answers and questions, which all who are interested can find useful.
Your page: This page is for the members and there are several advantages of being a member. For example you can send and publish your texts on the homepage, use the test material and so forth. We don’t publish personal information about our members for the public.
Information from the National Agency for Education: This part is symbolised with an icon on the first page. Families, teachers, students and others who are interested in educational matters can take part of this page and use it as a source of information.
Guest book: This is the most important link between our members and visitors. It’s very practical to use. Our visitors use this more often then the forum. Thanks for all the beautiful words you write about our efforts and the suggestions you give us to improve the homepage. Every word you write doubles our enthusiasm.
Here beneath are some examples from our visitors, students, parents, teachers and other interested people who have visited our homepage since August 2005.
Hello!
The Internet is not meaningful without you. Thank you for the work you do for our mothertounge.
Serhad, 1 August, 2005, from Kurdistan
Hello!
I´m a 10 year old kid. I´m from the city of Efrin in southwest Kurdistan (The Syrian Kurdistan) but I live in Germany. I´m very happy that I, thanks to your homepage, can write in my mothertounge. I thank you and wish you the best of luck.
Elend, 17 August 2005, from Germany
Hello!
I´m a mother of two small children. Today we first listened to some fairytales and then copied some of them from your Kurdish homepage. I thank and congratulate you for this homepage. I read Kurdish fairytales for my children. The things you learn in your childhood you never forgett. I hope that everybody will be able to read and write in their mothertounge.
Zinê, 24 August 2005-08-28, from Kurdistan
Hello!
I live in Istanbul and I have visited your homepage. I want to learn Kurdish. But so far I haven`t found a teacher or even a course. I would be very happy if you could give me some suggestions. Thanks in advance.
Seda Çiftçi, 24 August 2005 from Norway
Hello!
I´m a Kurd from the middle of Anatolia, but I live in Trondheim, Norway. Here I work as a mothertounge teacher. I have no experience of mothertounge education in Kurdish. I´d like to get hold of some teaching material in Kurdish. I hope you will help me to solve this problem. I´m teaching 2-4th grade students. Please help me!
Abidin Tahtaci, 25 August, 2005 from Norway
Dear Haydar Diljen,
I´m a linguistic student at Copenhagen University. For several months I´ve been trying to learn Kurdish grammars, but I´ve only found a book from 1913. And the bookreview says it´s not complete and incorrect. This is why I ask if you could give me some suggestions on books that are reliable sources of knowledge for learning Kurdish grammars? (in English or Arabic because they are languages I know)
Jamal Al-Joudeh, Copenhagen, 27 August 2005, from Denmark
The texts above are translated from Kurdish, Turkish, English and Swedish.
When we read these comments from our visitors we get a better understanding of how great the need is for a homepage like ours for students, teachers and parents. And although our resources are limited we feel that we can help them.
Finally I would like to say that this homepage was made for you; students, teachers, parents and others interested, and we will try to continue improving with help from your suggestions and opinions, which we look forward taking part of.
If you have any questions regarding our homepage we ask you to contact us. We are happy to get your opinions, suggestions and wishes.
Project leader/editor
Haydar Diljen,
Ev e-mail ji ber spambots hatîye parastin, ji bo dîtina vê gerek JavaScript vekirî be
(2009-10-12)
