Educational Materials
This page provides handouts, PowerPoint slides, video, and more which can be used directly or as inspiration to introduce groups (or individuals) to the art and science of conlanging through formal classes, workshops, presentations, or other venues. The creators of each set of materials are given to allow credit to be given where credit is due.
This material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License unless otherwise noted.
The materials here can also be used in conjunction with other sections of the Library, especially links in the General Reference section of the Internet Resources (especially Zompist's LCK), to provide "students" of all kinds with a broad introduction to conlanging. Please note that the Creative Commons License above applies only to those items downloadable below directly from this page. Other sections of the Library are not necessarily governed by this.
Don Boozer
Conlanging Worksheets (PDF)
These worksheets (or versions of them) have successfully been used at a session at the Ohio Library Council (OLC) 2005 Annual Conference and a workshop
at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. They are best suited to teens/young adults but are readily useable by almost any age group. Participants using the worksheets can be split into groups (elves, gnomes, dragons, barbarians) and micro-conlangs are created by each group
and shared along the way. Hearing the participants at OLC and Cincinnati pronounce their words and phrases can be quite enjoyable for both participants as well as presenters.
Sai
DeCal Classes
DeCal Spring 2005 Syllabus (PDF)
DeCal Spring 2006 Syllabus (PDF)
DeCal Detailed Outline (PDF)
DeCal Reader, Part 1 (pages 1-178) (PDF)
DeCal Reader, Part 2 (pages 179-348) (PDF)
Video of DeCal classes (Google Video)
Sai taught a series of classes at University of California at Berkeley in Spring 2005 and 2006. The classes were given under the auspices of the DeCal system at Berkeley which
provides students with the opportunity to teach classes on a subject of their choosing. The files and link above provide an overall view of Sai's classes and an excellent template for others
considering teaching this kind of class. (Note: Some emails and other links may no longer be current within the documents themselves.)
Toorcamp Presentation
Presentation (PDF)
Slides of a presentation given at Toorcamp 2009, a hacker conference.
26th Chaos Communication Congress (26C3)
Paper (PDF) (10 pages, covers different material than the talk; published in Monochrom #26-34, ISBN
978-3-9502372-6-9)
Slides (PDF)
Writeup of the proto-conlang made during the talk
Video (1:13:41): MP4 (825MB);
3GP (200MB)
Streaming Video: media.ccc.de/browse/congress/2009/26c3-3520-en-conlanging_101.html
Audio: MP3 (34MB); OGG (34MB); Audio from workshop: MP3< br />
Social media / blogs tags to use: #26c3 #conlang @saizai
Feedback received: saizai.livejournal.com/956555.html
Sai's notes to self for next time: saizai.livejournal.com/957070.html
Sai presented a talk and workshop at 26C3 in December 2009. These materials provide in-depth coverage of that session.
Nathan Richardson
Conlanging Worksheets (PDF)
When a graduate student at Brigham Young University in 2007, Richardson modified Don Boozer's worksheets (above) for use in a conlanging talk at the local Life, The Universe, and Everything sci-fi/fantasy symposium on campus.
Richardson included more detailed linguistic information and formatted the worksheets using shaded and unshaded boxes.
Logan Sutton
Making A Language Class Syllabus
This syllabus was created by Logan Sutton for a proposed conlang class at the University of New Mexico. Unfortunately, the class was not able to be offered; however, we provide the syllabus here for others to use as a model if they consider conducting a class at their institution.
Sheri Beth Wells-Jensen
Language Creation Guide (Web site)
This page was originally created by Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen for use in her English 290 class at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. The page includes a number of helpful resources, links, and examples.