Butchulla lullaby
From ABC Open Wide Bay, by Brad Marsellos and Joy Bonner The importance of language. Joy Bonner of Hervey Bay understands the importance of remembering. Joy is doing everything she can to make sure her traditional language, Butchulla, is not forgotten. Greetings in Butchulla, sharing conversations with children and rediscovering songs from the past, are […]
Melissa Lucashenko’s Mullumbimby
From ABC books and arts daily, by Daniel Browning. In Bundjalung, you might greet another blackfella by asking: ‘Jingawahlu?’ Literally, ‘Where do you walk?’ but there is a deeper meaning: ‘Where are you from, where have you been, where are you going?’ Living and walking on your own country confers a sense of belonging. Unfortunately […]
Warrgamay people developing mayay (language) story books
By Jedda Priman on ABC Open Wide Bay. Throughout the last decade the Warrgamay people have worked hard to reclaim their traditional language. Today we are developing story books for children using the Warrgamaygan mayay. We are currently working on two children’s story books written in both English and Warrgamay. These story books will have […]
Urgent funding needed to save our languages, warns Wyles-Whelan
The Chair of an Aboriginal language group in north Queensland has warned urgent funding is needed before 80 per cent of Indigenous languages spoken in the far north Queensland region are lost. The North Queensland Regional Aboriginal Language Corporation (NQRALC) Chair, Troy Wyles-Whelan issued the warning to the standing committee for Aboriginal and Torres Strait […]
Bilingual education ideas welcomed
By Kiri Ten Dolle for The Satellite INDIGENOUS members of the community have welcomed the Federal Government’s recommendations to introduce bilingual education in schools to boost Aboriginal student attendance. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, chaired by Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann, last week hand down its […]
Bilingual education for Indigenous Australians
By Lachlan Mackintosh for ABC Brisbane There’s a lot to a language, it’s more than just a tool for communication, it’s a social identity. So when a language disappears, how does it affect the culture attached to it? The ‘Our Land, Our Languages’ report was released this week, it looked at the role of Indigenous […]
Weekend to focus on the future of Aboriginal language
By Ross Kay for ABC Wide Bay. The study of a language can lead to a new understanding of the world as you immerse yourself in a different culture. But what if you could do that in your own backyard? That’s the invitation extended to the traditional owners in the Port Curtis and Coral coast […]
School sees pitfalls in Indigenous language studies
By Frances Adcock and Marlina Whop for ABC News The principal of Cherbourg State School, south-west of Bundaberg in southern Queensland, says it will be difficult to teach Indigenous languages in some schools. A new report is calling on the Federal Government to introduce Indigenous language education into schools with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander […]
Far North improves in NAPLAN results
By Liam Parsons for the Cairns Post. SCHOOL students in the Far North have improved in 11 out of 20 NAPLAN test areas, while there region’s 11,000 indigenous students enrolled in state schools have continued to lift their performance. In the nationwide tests, Far Northern Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are improving at a […]
Parliament reports on indigenous tongues: can they be saved?
Greg Dickson, of Crikey language blog Fully (sic), writes: Today federal Parliament releases the Our Land, Our Languages report, stemming from the recent inquiry into Learning Languages in Indigenous Communities. Our Land, Our Languages draws on 154 submissions and 23 public hearings held throughout Australia over the course of a year. The report comprehensively argues […]