ARABANA LEARNING LESSONS AT PULIIMA 2017

October 1, 2017

MLT staff have recently returned from presenting and participating at the biennial Puliima Indigenous Language and Technology Forum, which took place in Cairns from the 16th to the 19th of October 2017. The forum brought together over 200 people from around Australia and the world, all of whom are involved in Indigenous language education and revival. This forum is an opportunity for delegates to share ideas and hear about the language work currently being undertaken by a number of language communities, with a strong focus on developing and using new technologies. You can view the full line-up and other documentation via the Puliima website.

MLT Project Linguist Eleanor McCall and Arabana community member Veronica Arbon were selected to present at the forum this year. Their presentation entitled ‘Developing online resources for Arabana language’ centred on the Arabana online language lessons, a flagship project which has been developed over the past 18 months by the MLT. This project has received wide academic and community praise, highlighting their continued community consultation and the ease of use for hearing, reading and learning about the Arabana language.

Veronica kicked off the presentation with an acknowledgment of country in Arabana, followed by a reflection on the Arabana language journey to date. Eleanor and Veronica then spoke about the process of developing and reviewing the online lessons through a number of community workshops with speakers in Pt Augusta, and discussed how the lessons are aiding language learning within the newly formed language clubs in Pt Augusta and Adelaide. The attendees were briefly walked through a couple of the lessons during the presentation, and were able to learn some basic greetings in Arabana to show-off back home! The online lessons are now available on the MLT website and are open for everyone to engage with and listen to the Arabana language being spoken.

As the MLT moves forward with our digital strategy we aim to bring more of South Australia’s languages online with continued community consultation and engagement to ensure best practises and great usability by the public.

If you’d like to see and hear your language online, get in contact with the MLT on (08) 8313 0707 or shoot us an email at info@mobilelanguageteam.com.au