Why it is harder from far away
When you live in the same town, stories come out on their own: at dinner, in the car, looking through a cupboard. From another country, the weekly call fills up with health, the weather and who is visiting. The stories wait for a visit, and visits are short.
Three things get in the way, and each option below deals with them differently:
- Typing. Many parents will talk for twenty minutes but will not write a paragraph.
- Language. The best stories come out in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil or whatever they grew up speaking, and many story services work only in English.
- Distance. Phone-call services cover a list of countries, and printed books cost shipping and sometimes import fees.
Four ways to do it
1. Voice notes on WhatsApp: free, tonight
Send one question as a message. Ask your parent to hold the microphone button and answer in their own language. Most parents who already use WhatsApp can do this without help.
Good: free, nothing to install, their own voice and language.
Watch out: the answers end up scattered through the chat, mixed in with everything else. Save each voice note somewhere safe, or it can be lost when a phone is replaced. Nobody prompts the next question unless you remember to.
2. Record a video call: one long conversation
Pick a calm time, tell your parent you would like to record, and ask three or four questions from a list. Most video-call apps can record; check yours before the call.
Good: you can ask follow-up questions as they talk, and you see their face.
Watch out: it depends on you finding the time across time zones, and one long recording is hard to go back to. Always ask before you record, and say when it starts.
3. A story service with a printed book
Services like StoryWorth, Remento, Meminto and Storii send your parent a question each week and turn the answers into a book. For a parent abroad, the details that matter are the country and the language:
| Service | How your parent answers | Languages | Outside the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| StoryWorth | Writes by email or on the website, or tells it on a phone call | Service in English and Spanish; stories can be written in any language | Hardcover ships from the US or Europe; shipping charged, import fees possible |
| Remento | Records voice or video from a link | Written up in English and Spanish | Ships to the US, plus Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand for a fee |
| Meminto | Types, sends voice messages in the app, or gets phoned at agreed times | “Speak in any language”, transcribed | Ships worldwide, from $7.99 |
| Storii | Automated phone calls; press 1 to record | US, UK and Australian English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian | Calls 17 listed countries; India is not one of them |
Good: someone else does the asking every week, and you get a hardcover at the end.
Watch out: most are built in English for a US address. For a parent in India who would rather speak Telugu or Hindi, Meminto is the only one of these four that says it takes any language and ships worldwide. Prices and details for all six options are on StoryWorth alternatives.
4. Mulam: a question every morning, heard by the whole family
Mulam asks your parent one question about their own life each morning at 9. They answer by voice, photo or text in the browser on their phone or tablet, with no password: they join from a link you send. Your parent can switch Mulam to Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, Tagalog, Swahili, Yoruba or Arabic (written in English letters) and answer by voice in any language. The whole family hears each answer the same day, wherever they live, and can reply and ask more.
Good: built for families in different countries; their own voice and language; free to start, then $4.69 a month or $36.99 a year for the whole family (pricing).
Watch out: no printed hardcover yet (a PDF book only), it does not phone your parent, and your parent needs a smartphone or tablet.
Tips that work across time zones
- Send the question in their morning. They can think about it over the day and answer when the house is quiet.
- Ask in your language, let them answer in theirs. You can ask in English. Their answer will be fuller in the language they grew up in.
- Start with a photo. Ask a sibling at home to photograph an old album. “Who is this?” is the easiest question there is.
- Let the grandchildren ask. A question from a grandchild in another country is the one a grandparent answers first.
- Reply to every answer. A short “I never knew that” is what makes them answer the next one.
- Back it up. Whatever you use, keep a copy of the recordings somewhere other than one phone.
Not sure what to ask? Start with 100 questions to ask your parents or 60 questions to ask your grandparents, including a section on the place they came from.
Questions people ask
How can I record my parents’ stories if they live in India?
Ask one question at a time and have them answer by voice, on WhatsApp, a recorded video call or an app built for it, in whichever language they prefer. Keep every recording in one shared place. If you want a printed book, check that the service takes their language and ships to where you want the book.
Can my parent answer in Telugu, Hindi or Tamil?
On WhatsApp or a video call, yes. Among story services, Meminto says it takes any language, StoryWorth lets stories be written in any language, and Mulam lets a parent use the app in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and seven other languages and answer by voice in any language. Remento writes up stories in English and Spanish.
Does StoryWorth work for parents outside the US?
Your parent can answer by email from anywhere, and StoryWorth ships its hardcover from the US or Europe with a shipping charge; some countries add import fees. The service itself is offered in English and Spanish.
What if my parent doesn’t have a smartphone?
A phone-call service is the easiest. Storii calls landlines and mobiles in 17 listed countries, and Meminto and StoryWorth offer phone-call answers too. Check the country list before you buy.