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Transcript/ScriptCONNECT: Planet Word (TV)
HEADLINE: A World of Words
TEASER: Museum where power of word comes to life in high tech
PUBLISHED AT: 01/23/2023
BYLINE: Marsha James
DATELINE: Washington, D.C.
VIDEOGRAPHER: Phil Alexiou
PRODUCER: Phil Alexiou, Zdenko Novacki
COURTESIES:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:00
VID APPROVED BY: MJ
TYPE: VPKGF
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((Eds: This is a self-narrated feature.))
((INTRO))
((Planet Word is a museum in Washington, DC, where the power of words comes to life in high tech. The interactive museum has voice-activated games, books, and other fun spaces for kids to learn that words matter - literally. VOA's Marsha James brings us the story.))
((NATS/SOT))
Hey there. Step up to the mic and say hello.
((Ann Friedman, Founder and CEO, Planet Word)) Hello.
((NATS/SOT))
Hello and welcome to Planet Word. Hello. Yo. Hi there. You’re standing in front of about 1000 words.
((NATS))
((Ann Friedman, Founder and CEO, Planet Word)) I'm Ann Friedman. I'm the founder and CEO of Planet Word, a new museum of words and language in Washington D.C. From an early age, grew up loving to read, grew up being really interested in words and foreign languages. And that's why I started investigating the idea of creating a museum
of words and language.
((NATS))
((Ann Friedman, Founder and CEO, Planet Word)) Being able to occupy the Franklin School, it’s a National Historic Landmark, as the home for Planet Word…
((Courtesy: Planet Word/Long Story Short Media))
We like to call ourselves the world's first voice-activated museum. So, we have lots of voice recognition technology, but we also have motion activation.
((Ann Friedman, Founder and CEO, Planet Word)) We have places throughout the museum where, just by scooting in on a chair, the exhibit begins, or by laying a book in a special holder, you will trigger projection technology.
((NATS))
((Courtesy: Planet Word/Long Story Short Media))
I speak Icelandic. I speak Amharic, Hindi, Korean, Hawaiian, Farsi. And I speak Hebrew. Shalom. Shalom. We have these paintbrushes, and you can basically dip one of these high-tech paintbrushes in a word palette and paint the scenery
((Courtesy: Planet Word/Long Story Short Media))
around you on the walls with that word.
((Ann Friedman, Founder and CEO, Planet Word)) When I dip my brush in that word, what's going to happen? You know, let me see. And I bet when you do that, you are never going to forget that word. It's going to be sunk into your conscience. I was a reading and writing teacher and I think I was pretty successful at that. But like I said, test scores in language arts have been stagnating for years. How could we try to reverse these negative trends? And the idea that came to me was through informal learning. That's what happens at museums. You make learning fun.
((Ann Friedman, Founder and CEO, Planet Word)) So, I felt like having a museum allowed me the space and the influence and then, sort of, national attention that, maybe, would make reading and language and words cool again.
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Washington D. C.
Embargo DateJanuary 22, 2023 18:49 EST
Byline
Marsha James, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
