PlanetRead

Overview

PlanetRead is a nonprofit organization that seeks and implements innovative strategies for literacy, that are both cost-effective and have a mass impact.

Our general strategy is to integrate reading into popular culture, mass media, and anything that people enjoy doing already. We seek convergence of literacy with old, new, and emerging media, such as TV, internet, DVDs/VCDs, cell-phones, and of course, print.

Mission

PlanetRead’s mission is, simply, a reading planet -- a planet where everyone can read and has access to affordable and interesting reading opportunities in one's native and other language(s).

Program

Several PlanetRead programs are centered around our Same Language Subtitling (SLS). SLS is the simple yet powerful idea of subtitling audio-visual media in the “same" language as the audio. Words are highlighted in perfect timing with the audio so as to strengthen the association of sound and text. Essentially, this is Karaoke of popular music-videos and film songs for reading practice.

PlanetRead is implementing SLS on Bollywood-style film songs in India. We are presently on 10 TV programs in as many languages/states.

PlanetRead is also applying SLS to children's animated products and folk songs.

Having already scaled up in India, PlanetRead is now scaling out its work to other countries, especially in Africa and South Asia where literacy remains a major global challenge.

Impact

PlanetRead's work with SLS gives regular reading practice to 300 million television viewers in India, of which, 200 million are estimated to be early-literate -- people who are officially "literate" but who cannot read, for example, the headlines of a newspaper.

Furthermore, PlanetRead's presence on television, creates an environment and motivation for literacy, for over 600 million viewers in India.

Cost in India? One US $ gives weekly 30 minutes of reading practice to 5,000 people, annually.

Countries of Operation

India