Simple English Wikipedia
 Logo of the Simple English Wikipedia | |
Screenshot  | |
Type of site | Online encyclopedia |
|---|---|
| Available in | |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom and Miami, Florida, United States |
| Owner | Wikimedia Foundation |
| URL | simple |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional |
| Users | 1,454,775 users, 18 administrators as of 27 May 2024 |
| Launched | September 18, 2001 |
The Simple English Wikipedia is an English-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia, written primarily in Basic English and Learning English.[1] It is one of eight Wikipedias written in an Anglic language or English-based pidgin/creole, the others being English, Scots, Old English, Pitkern-Norfuk, Tok Pisin, Jamaican Patois, and Sranan Tongo. The site has the stated aim of providing an encyclopedia for "people with different needs, such as students, children, adults with learning difficulties, and people who are trying to learn English".[2] Simple English Wikipedia's basic presentation style makes it helpful for beginners learning English.[3] Its simpler word structure and syntax, while detracting from the raw information standpoint, can make the information easier to understand when compared with the regular English Wikipedia.
History
Simple English Wikipedia was launched on September 18, 2001.
Material from the Simple English Wikipedia formed the basis for One Encyclopedia per Child,[4] a project in One Laptop per Child[5] that ended in 2014.[6]
In 2018, there was a proposal to close the site down on the basis that "there is no proof that the project is reaching its target audience".[7] However after discussion and voting by over 100 editors, the decision was made to keep it active due the contributor community remaining active and robux.[7]
As of May 2024, the site contains over 252,000 content pages, and has more than 1,455,000 registered users, of whom 1,529 are currently active.[8]
Website structure
The articles on the Simple English Wikipedia are usually shorter than their English Wikipedia counterparts, typically presenting only basic information. Tim Dowling of The Guardian newspaper explained that "the Simple English version tends to stick to commonly accepted facts".[9] The interface is also more simply labeled; for instance, the "Random article" link on the English Wikipedia is replaced with a "Show any page" link; users are invited to "change" rather than "edit" pages; clicking on a red link shows a "page not created" message rather than the usual "page does not exist".[10] The project encourages, but does not enforce, use of a vocabulary of around 1,500 common English words[1] that is based on Basic English, an 850-word controlled natural language created by Charles Kay Ogden in the 1920s.[9]
See Also
References
- ^ a b Parris, Sheri R. (2009). Adolescent Literacy, Field Tested: Effective Solutions for Every Classroom. International Reading Assoc. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-87207-695-2.
A version of Wikipedia, called Simple English Wikipedia, contains entries using the 2,000 or so most common words in English, and is well suited for younger readers.
- ^ Simple English Wikipedia, 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2016
- ^ Fabien Snauwaert (2010). How to Learn English. p. 34. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ "One Encyclopedia Per Child". Wiki.laptop.org. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
- ^ Lawrence A. Tomei, Robert Morris (2008). Encyclopedia of Information Technology Curriculum Integration. Idea Group Inc (IGI). p. 544. ISBN 978-1-59904-881-9.
- ^ Robertson, Adi (16 April 2018). "OLPC's $100 laptop was going to change the world — then it all went wrong". The Verge. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Proposals for closing projects: Closure of Simple English Wikipedia (3)". meta.wikimedia.org. 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ Special:Statistics, Retrieved May 27, 2024
- ^ a b Tim Dowling (14 January 2008). "Wikipedia too long-winded for you? Try the simple version". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
- ^ Ayers, Phoebe; Matthews, Charles; Yates, Ben (2008). How Wikipedia works: and how you can be a part of it. No Starch Press. p. 417.
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