BENGALURU : Kannada gottilla? Fret not. You may soon be able to come back with a snappy retort to that question. With online education becoming the buzz word, the State Government plans to set up an
e-learning portal for people wishing to learn the language. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is expected to inaugurate it on November 1, Kannada Rajyotsava day.
The initiative, in association with the Kannada Development Authority, is aimed at enabling non-Kannadigas residing in the state to pick up the language as well as help next generation Kannagidas living abroad to stay in touch with their roots.
This is probably the first time that the State Government is adopting technology to teach Kannada. Tech-savvy experts are working with litterateurs to digitalise Kannada words. Initially, the portal will help those interested to learn spoken Kannada, and gradually, reading and writing as well. In the long term, the government plans to teach even science subjects in Kannada through the portal.
Kannada Development Authority Chairman T S Nagabharana said the move will be the first such initiative undertaken by the government. “Many non-Kannadigas come to Karnataka to study and work. This portal will help them learn the language from anywhere. It will be user-friendly and free of cost,” he said.
‘Portal will promote Kannada’
Kannada Development Authority Chairman T S Nagabharana said that the portal will also help people living outside the state especially abroad, to remain rooted. “Parents who have moved away may not have the facilities to teach their children Kannada.
But through this portal, anyone can learn the language,” he said. The initiative will further the work the Authority is already doing to promote the language abroad. The KDA holds weekend classes outside India in collaboration with local Kannada organisations, benefitting many second- generation people.
Since the lockdown was announced in March, KDA has held five online workshops to train teachers who impart classes on weekends. “We have trained over 300 non-resident Kannadigas in 84 countries,” Nagabharana said. A couple of schools in the US will offer Kannada as a foreign language. “Children who attend weekend classes can continue learning Kannada in their school later,” he said.