Abstract:

In this research the authors share the experience of developing and promoting self-published educational software named Solresol: The Project, which is a non-commercial program that can be used for translation from English into the constructed language named Solresol and back.

Solresol is a constructed language that predates the more popular a priori and a posteriori constructed languages designed for international communication such as Esperanto and Lojban. Despite the fact that Solresol is one of the lesser-known constructed languages, it still attracts attention of those who are interested in either linguistics or arts thanks to its simplicity and a wide variety of methods of expression, ranging from letters and numbers to colors and musical notes.

The aim of the project implemented by the authors is to develop software that popularizes Solresol and makes the language more accessible to the general public. The software is powered by the cutting-edge technology of Unreal Engine 4 which is typically used in video games and visual design, which helps to put the emphasis on the aesthetics and makes it possible to implement the ideas of Francois Sudre, the creator of Solresol.

This non-commercial software project started in 2014 and is still developing. Its creation helped to raise linguistic awareness, as evidenced by Google Analytics and other metrics. The use of such websites as Facebook, reddit, YouTube, etc. allowed us to accumulate more than 10 000 unique visitors interested in the project and made it one of the most popular resources on SolReSol over a short period of time, as evidenced by Google rankings. Moreover, it has been possible to build a network of those who are interested in Solresol, including artists, academics and constructed language enthusiasts.

The experience shared by the authors of this research may be used as a blueprint for the academics who are willing to popularize their ideas and reach a significantly wider audience using the means of social media and search engine optimization.

Keywords:

Constructed languages, Solresol, software development, social media, gamification, Unreal Engine 4.