Crikey Reposts a Paradisec post.

In Deeply depressing news from the North – the slow death of bilingualism in remote Northern Territory schools, Bob Gosford reports on a post by Jane Simpson on the Endangered Langauges and Cultures blog, bringing the issue to a broader audience

Gosford states (about Simpson and her post):

She knows what she is talking about, so when she writes in such dramatic terms we should all sit back and listen.

ABC Reports on Indigenous translation of National Anthem

In Kutju Australia, our land is girt by red dust
, ABC reports on a new translation of the Australian National Anthem into Loritja Pintupi.

The translation was undertaken by "politician Alison Anderson and musician Ted Egan", "to increase awareness about the language of Australia's first people."

The article claims that it is the first translation in to an indigenous Australian language.

FastCompany reports on LiveAndTell

LiveAndTell, A Crowdsourced Quest To Save Native American Languages

FastCompany reports on the LiveAndTell Project. Originally set up "as an efficient, easy-to-use way to pass the Lakota Sioux language (and others) from older generations to younger ones", with a goal of "just lowering the barriers and the costs for everybody"; and described in the article as " an attempt to preserve endangered indigenous dialects such as Lakota and Ho Chunk"

The author comments that although there is plenty of learning material available in Spanish, French or German, "For Native American languages, there's a scarcity of learning materials,”. The article contrasts the organic, crowdsourcing nature of LiveAndTell with the scientific approach of Rosetta Stone.


Other projects mentioned in the article:

• Livemocha
• Rosetta Project
• Rosetta Stone Endangered Langueages Project

Al-Jazeera on Libyan Berbers

Al-Jazeera English reports on Amazigh speakers in Libya.



Although the language appears not to be endangered (Ethnologue reports the language to have at least 2,540,000 speakers in Algeria, and it isn't included on the UNESCO list, notably, ehtnologue does not list any speakers in Libya); this clip describes attempts by the Libyan Government to stamp it out, and a new radio station, newspaper, and school class in the language. All coming into existence since the recent uprising.

Breath of Life Project

In: UTA helps Native Americans learn to save own languages, The
Arlington Star Telegram Reports on the Breath of Life Program.

The program is "a joint effort by experts from the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Oklahoma -- in which linguists mentor American Indians so they can better recover endangered languages."

According to the article, members of the Osage, Otoe and Natchez communities took part in the first workshop.

The project is modelled after a project of the same name at Berkeley

Language Activist recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours

Channel Nine: Language lover listed in Queen's honours

Arrernte elder, Veronica Mary Dobson has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the indigenous community as a linguist, naturalist and ecologist.

Not only is it pertinent to this blog that she has been honoured in this way, but also that Channel Nine saw fit to create an article specifically about her receipt of the medal, rather than as a footnote in a larger Honours List article.

The Existential Problems of minority cultures.

The Australian: Speaking one's mother tongue is vital



Noel Pearson writes in The Australian on the existential problems of Indigenous Australians, and by extension, other minority cultures ("Where are the Livonians today?", and "The Swedes on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea...under Russian or Soviet domination").

He makes particular mention of the Guugu Yimdhirr, to whom the author "belongs historically and linguistically, and through descent.", but also mentions the Yolngu.

He states that "Anglophones, such as non-indigenous Australians, have difficulty understanding the existential angst of small ethnicities." because "The English language and the Anglophone culture are the most powerful forces in history."

He ends with a plea:

If you don't know an indigenous Australian language, learn one. (People with no indigenous Australian family may learn the language of the area with which they have the strongest ties.) If you know an indigenous Australian language, improve your grasp of it; literacy in Australian languages is still rare.


Then speak it to the children. This is the noblest and worthiest cause for an Australian patriot.