If you were one of only a dozen or so people left who spoke the language you grew up with, what would you do to try to preserve it?
The Ngukurr Language Centre has recently reopened after being shut for four years.
The Centre aims to document some of the endangered Indigenous languages in the area and teach them to the next generation.
Chairperson Anthony Daniels says the reopening is exciting for the community.
“We need our language to be strong in our law, our culture, our identity.”
There were originally seven language groups spoken in the Ngukurr region, but one has already become extinct.
Part of the language centre’s role will be to document other endangered languages to ensure no more are lost.
The centre also runs programs in the local school teaching traditional languages, and they also teach Kriol to non-Indigenous workers in Ngukurr.
Audio
Steven Schubert speaks with Anthony Daniels and Greg Dickson from the Ngukurr Language Centre.
- This article originally appears at:
- http://www.abc.net.au/rural/nt/content/201208/s3560121.htm
- Article taken from the following publication:
- ABC Rural
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