Worldwide Spread

Entering the New Year naturally offers an opportunity for reflection on progress in the year just passed as well. And there’s no doubt that the centenary since the outbreak of the First World War added special poignancy to the annual marking of time on this occasion. An fheadhainn tha laige sàmhach is an ongoing community project which has already yielded some wonderful recordings. More will no doubt be forthcoming in 2015.

Some 2014 online statistics for Island Voices underline the levels of interconnectedness between what we do here and the interests and language learning aspirations of people right across the globe. The number of visits to this WordPress site continues to grow year on year, as does the number of countries from which those visits come – 99 in 2014 (compared with 87 in 2013).

As usual, the YouTube channel outscores even the WordPress site – 154 different countries again. The UK, USA, and Canada are the “big three” as before, but it’s interesting to note new entries in the “top ten” this year, with both Brazil and the Philippines now making a significant showing for the first time.

Readers who are particularly interested in statistics may also wish to compare these 2014 snapshots with the more detailed figures up to mid-2013 in the “Digital Literacies” report on the project’s research page. While one can speculate endlessly over the reasons, it is any event encouraging to note that the growing local interest in the work of Island Voices appears to be matched at international level. Happy New Year!