jaars museum of the alphabet

Housed on the grounds of the Wycliffe-JAARS Center (organizations devoted to using descriptive linguistics to translate the Bible into previously unwritten languages), the Alphabet Museum overwhelms with the intricacy of human language and the development of written communication. There are interactive displays of interest to children, and very erudite displays for adults interested in the development of various branches of human language groups and writing styles.Displays are top quality, and you can also get a tape to narrate for you.

This museum takes at least 4 hrs. to do a good tour, a quick one can be done in 2 hrs. It details the very beginning of language, peoples and nations; how languages are written, spoken, translated and printed. The exhibits are wonderfully crafted. There are a few hands-on areas. It is a mental challenge for adults to take in, however, I think kids like it because the exhibits are so real.

We went there after reading about it in the magazine. We were greeted by ms Elizabeth. What a wonderful friend companion she was. She gave full tour with lot of information and love. We enjoyed exhibit on our language hindi. Must visit for a whole family.

I am a local who visited the JAARS museums (this one and the Mexico Cardenas Museum next door) for the first time today with my 9 year old son. The Alphabet Museum is incredibly detailed. There is so much to look at that I was somewhat overwhelmed- but in a good way. I really enjoyed the Mexico museum too. This is a good (and free) place to visit and both museums are worthwhile. They also give tours of the JAARS area during the weekdays starting at the Townsend Building across the street but we were there on a Saturday so we didn't get to do this. I think there is a cafeteria that is open during the week too.

Not only Alpha and Beta but a lot of informations about the History of the writen word by the Humanity. This museum is a amazing culture center. In Brazil I never know about it until to be in Waxhaw for a visit to our american friends.

This was an excellent museum. We had only allowed an hour which was not enough time! It was definitely worth a side trip to see. As others have noted, the museums does a geat job presenting information in a way that all ages can appreciate.

A real gem. One-of-a-kind museum will enthrall museum-lovers and anyone interested in the history of written language. The displays are phenomenal, the presentation very layered, from bold easy-to-understand overviews to highly detailed content about the development of specific families of alphabets. There is something for the casual tourist with only short time to browse but the professional linguist will be impressed as well. One could easily spend a day or two in this small building trying to absorb all of the content.

You could walk into this little museum knowing basically nothing about the world's writing systems and their history and walk out with a ton of new knowledge. There's no admission fee (amazing!), so you can just walk in and follow the history of written language from it's beginnings to today. If you are a scholar and want to truly learn all there is to, I would recommend spending a day in here. Get halfway through, take a break for lunch, then finish the second half. My husband and I went in for the afternoon and regretted not giving ourselves more time.

Very interesting exhibits & film presentation. Plan to stay several hours to see all the exhibits. If you're there at lunch time, the cafeteria is excellent & very reasonable-cash only! Something for all age groups.

It's not the typical museum theme. It is about our alphabet, something we use each and every day. Informative, educational, well worth the time.

Wow...incredible amount of information in a small space. And very well laid out with wonderful displays. Very worth the time

Our missionary aviation group, Compass Aviation, visited as a group. It was a beautiful day and we went through the JAARS Museum of the Alphabet. There were lots of photos on the walls, interactive exhibits and people stationed at different locations to answer any questions. It was a very informative time. We enjoyed our visit and took lots of pictures.

We made an appointment for a guided tour by a very knowledgeable volunteer a day ahead of time through their website. I let them know ahead of time that we were bringing our mature, well behaved and attentive gifted grandchildren, ages 6 and 8, with us. There is much attentive listening to do at this facinating museum but I am happy we went and will return again and again as we found it informative as well as facinating. The children reported to their teachers that they learned about how alphabets have been created for places that didn't have a written language.

Small, but, very interesting museum dedicated to some of the first missionaries to many countries. Home of the International Bible Translation league. Young kids will probably be bored.

Their need for small planes ... and the safety to operate them lends itself to their ingenuity... their "safety Seat" is incredible... all small planes should have them installed.