Hello and welcome to beautiful Alex Wrege’s blog.

A.L.I. Commercial in Spanish, Korean, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, and Setswana.

As part of the class project, the students and I also recorded alternative language tracks for the A.L.I. commercial. Each of the versions below is slightly different. Extra points for those who find the differences.

To view these commercials in full screen mode (do it, it’s worth it), click on this symbol in the video window: fullscreen

Just as a recap: This is a re-edited version of the English version of the commercial. DennisH (thanks again, dude!) pointed out that the beginning was a bit slow. Agreed! I hope this version is better:

The next version of the commercial is in formal Arabic. Thanks to Ali, Abdalraoof, and Walid for their help.

On to the next version: Mandarin Chinese. Thanks to Ye Chi for his translation and narration.

Jay helped with the Korean version of the commercial.

Roberto from Puerto Rico narrated the Spanish version of the commercial.

Finally, Lesedi from Botswana translated and narrated the Setswana version of the commercial. The amazing thing here is that Lesedi, who is visually impaired, memorized the entire English text, translated it in his head, and then recorded the Setswana version in one session. Awesome, Lesedi!

Other versions in the works are German (guess who’s doing that one), Japanese, and Russian. I am also looking for speakers of Hindi, Gujarati, Thai, Cambodian, and Portuguese. If you are a native (or near-native) speaker of any of these languages, please contact me through Facebook or leave a comment on the blog here.

The students and I are looking forward to your feedback, please go to alexwrege.com to leave a comment about what you saw. Thanks for all of your help. It is greatly appreciated!

Posted on 12 July '09 by Alexander Wrege, under General.

8 Comments to “A.L.I. Commercial in Spanish, Korean, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, and Setswana.”

#1 Posted by Dennis H (12.07.09 at 10:30 )

That works, the spinning world was just the thing. Good work, did you create this with Imovies? I liked all the versions, it is interesting to listen to all the different languages. This should help get your message out there to the people who can use your help.

#2 Posted by Ahmad AlTalib (12.07.09 at 13:34 )

One of the worst things I know about US is their commercials!
I got addicted to Advil capsules because of the commercials!
I sold my TV on eBay because of the commercials!
I lost $$$$$ because of the commercials!

But this kind of commercial is from the good ones :P I guess because the editor of this one is not from US lol.. I like it! as always good work Alex!

#3 Posted by Carlos (12.07.09 at 13:57 )

Hi,
the spanish version is good enough. Nothing offensive and you can understand everything

#4 Posted by timster (12.07.09 at 23:51 )

Very Nice! Looks professionally done but still retains freshness. The use of students is quite effective as well. Interacting with international students has one of the fringe benefits of working at the University for 20 years. The exchange of cultural experience has been one of the high points of my career. I have great respect for visiting students who choose to make the effort at perfecting their English skills, not to blend but to be able to more effectively share. Good Job!

#5 Posted by Poranee (13.07.09 at 15:20 )

It’s awesome, Mr.Alex.!!! I really like it.
I’d like to help you in Thai. I’ll be back in Toledo on Aug 13th. Hope it’s not too late for the commercial.

#6 Posted by Kain (13.07.09 at 17:38 )

Hi,Mr.Alex. The show is looked excellent. As your student, I’m very glade to join your podcast. You made it with all your students, it’s really nice. I like it very much. And thanks to teaching us how to use IMovie and communicate with international students.

#7 Posted by raviles (15.07.09 at 00:33 )

This commercial turned out really well! Thank you for including me in the commercial. You’re doing nice work. This is one of the ways to publicize A.L.I

#8 Posted by Mary Ellen Edwards (04.08.09 at 16:29 )

Nice job on this Alex. I listened to the Spanish one too and it seemed okay to me. I would say a few more women in the video might help the gender balance a bit. UT has about a 60/40 woman/man ratio that should be reflected here too. I would assume that ALI is probably about the opposite ratio given higher ed in other countries?

Lets have lunch soon.

Mary Ellen