Latest news with #languageRevival
News.com.au
5 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
New workshop connects Spokane School with Central Australia in Alice Springs
'Proven' American methods of language learning are coming to the Red Centre capital to help keep some of Australia's dying languages alive. Hailing from Washington state, the Salish School of Spokane will be hosting a two-day workshop in partnership with the Pertame School and the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education in Alice Springs. Kicking off on Thursday and running until Friday, the workshop is offering the Salish School's 'proven method' of language learning, Pertame Language Nest co-ordinator Vanessa Farrelly said. 'The Salish School has a proven method of creating advanced adult speakers within just one year of training, who can then go on and be teachers in the Salish School of Spokane, a complete immersion school from preschool to grade 8,' she said. The Salish School will be bringing its fluency transfer system method of learning, which event spokesperson and past participant Samantha Armstrong said will be 'a significant moment for our language revival program.' 'Learning the first steps to creating new speakers of any Indigenous languages using the Salish Fluency Transfer System has ignited the fire within me,' she said. 'The Salish family's personal journey reconnecting and revitalising their mother tongue deeply resonated with me. Their words were our words. The two days of the workshop were interactive and were ran so effectively.' The Salish comprise of four groups of Indigenous Americans from the Pacific Northwest of America, with the Salish School working to keep their Indigenous languages alive. The workshops will cover the Salish journey, their curriculum, and the practical applications which can be put on Indigenous languages around the globe. 'Australia has one of the fastest rates of language extinction in the world' Ms Farrelly said. 'It is critical that our Australian endangered language groups come together and look to Indigenous peoples globally to learn from the most successful pathways to grow new fluent speakers. 'It is a matter of urgency, while we still have our precious few Elders speakers with us.'
ABC News
12-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Toukley's Kooloora Preschool revives endangered Darkinjung Aboriginal language
Students at a NSW Central Coast preschool start their day talking about their feelings in Darkinjung, the local Aboriginal language. Darkinjung is the predominant First Nations group in the region, but the language became endangered fairly quickly after colonisation due to its proximity to Sydney. "It's taken a lot of research, a lot of hard work from people that have come before me to get those words so we can start learning them again," preschool educational leader Sharon Buck said. Ms Buck is a proud Gamilaroi woman who has lived and worked on Darkinjung country her whole life. Kooloora is a targeted Aboriginal preschool attached to Toukley Public School. About 75 per cent of students identify as Aboriginal, but Ms Buck said all families appreciated the opportunity to learn language and culture. Amber Clenton's daughter, Islah, has attended Kooloora since the beginning of the year. She has started bringing the language and songs home. "Our whole family is Aboriginal, so we love to learn the language," Ms Clenton said. "It's one of the best things … sharing culture and opening it up to everyone as well, so everyone else can learn something if they want to. It's great." She said it was an opportunity she was not afforded as a child. "It's hard for me to try and get more information on my family because no-one wants to share it, but I'm glad being in here will help her learn," Ms Clenton said. Arliah James is one of Kooloora's non-Aboriginal students. Her mother, Kelsey, said she was benefiting from the Darkinjung language program. "I just love how this school incorporates it [culture] a lot and it is not getting forgotten," Ms James said. "I didn't get to learn much about it, and it's lovely to see that she's embracing it and they're enjoying it at the same time." Bronwyn Chambers, who is a community elder and former chair of the Darkinjung Language Centre, said it was encouraging to see a new generation carrying on traditions that were almost lost. "Children are our future in speaking language," she said. "I'm hoping that one day our Darkinjung language might be our people's first language again. "It's their right to have their language and it's been taken away from us, and now it's the opportunity to give language back, not just to Darkinjung people but to all Aboriginal people who live here on the Central Coast." Ms Buck's commitment to restoring language has resulted in the preschool earning the highest rating achievable for an early childhood education and care service. The rating of excellent, from the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority, is an honour Kooloora shares with just 10 other facilities in NSW. "It validates that the service is a leader in our community and for other early childhood services, and that our initiatives are recognised and valued as making a difference for children and families," Ms Buck said. The preschool is working with other local schools to share the localised Aboriginal curriculum.
ABC News
11-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Toukley's Kooloora Preschool revives lost Darkinjung Aboriginal language
Students at a NSW Central Coast preschool start their day talking about their feelings in Darkinjung, the local Aboriginal language. Darkinjung is the predominant First Nations group in the region, but the language was lost fairly quickly after colonisation due to its proximity to Sydney. "It's taken a lot of research, a lot of hard work from people that have come before me to get those words so we can start learning them again," preschool educational leader Sharon Buck said. Ms Buck is a proud Gamilaroi woman who has lived and worked on Darkinjung country her whole life. Kooloora is a targeted Aboriginal preschool attached to Toukley Public School. About 75 per cent of students identify as Aboriginal, but Ms Buck said all families appreciated the opportunity to learn language and culture. Amber Clenton's daughter, Islah, has attended Kooloora since the beginning of the year. She has started bringing the language and songs home. "Our whole family is Aboriginal, so we love to learn the language," Ms Clenton said. "It's one of the best things … sharing culture and opening it up to everyone as well, so everyone else can learn something if they want to. It's great." She said it was an opportunity she was not afforded as a child. "It's hard for me to try and get more information on my family because no-one wants to share it, but I'm glad being in here will help her learn," Ms Clenton said. Arliah James is one of Kooloora's non-Aboriginal students. Her mother, Kelsey, said she was benefiting from the Darkinjung language program. "I just love how this school incorporates it [culture] a lot and it is not getting forgotten," Ms James said. "I didn't get to learn much about it, and it's lovely to see that she's embracing it and they're enjoying it at the same time." Bronwyn Chambers, who is a community elder and former chair of the Darkinjung Language Centre, said it was encouraging to see a new generation carrying on traditions that were almost lost. "Children are our future in speaking language," she said. "I'm hoping that one day our Darkinjung language might be our people's first language again. "It's their right to have their language and it's been taken away from us, and now it's the opportunity to give language back, not just to Darkinjung people but to all Aboriginal people who live here on the Central Coast." Ms Buck's commitment to restoring language has resulted in the preschool earning the highest rating achievable for an early childhood education and care service. The rating of excellent, from the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority, is an honour Kooloora shares with just 10 other facilities in NSW. "It validates that the service is a leader in our community and for other early childhood services, and that our initiatives are recognised and valued as making a difference for children and families," Ms Buck said. The preschool is working with other local schools to share the localised Aboriginal curriculum.
