{"id":36064,"date":"2023-10-20T14:41:57","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/how-australias-newest-technology-can-be-used-to-save-its-oldest-languages-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:41:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:41:57","slug":"how-australias-newest-technology-can-be-used-to-save-its-oldest-languages-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/how-australias-newest-technology-can-be-used-to-save-its-oldest-languages-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"How Australia\u2019s newest technology can be used to save its oldest languages – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For years app developers have set their eyes on Silicon Valley with the dream of making millions, but one team has turned its attention to the Northern Territory with the aim of preserving Australia\u2019s oldest and most endangered languages.<\/p>\n

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Dr Payi Linda Ford, from Charles Darwin University, has received a grant to develop an app that she hopes can not only preserve two endangered languages but help teach them to the younger generation and even the world<\/a>. Ford told StartupSmart <\/i>she has brought on two consultants, a linguist from Adelaide and an app developer and linguist from Canberra.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBefore my mother passed away, her instructions were to me that it was my responsibility to ensure that our languages \u2013 which are Marrithiyel and Mak Mak Marranunggu \u2013 are maintained,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI thought, how am I going to do this in a technological age where a lot of our younger generation who are descendants of the Marrithiyel language are not necessarily living on our grandmother\u2019s country?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ford got the idea for a smartphone app after her daughter, who is studying Spanish, showed her an app she used to help her study.<\/p>\n

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However, the task won\u2019t be an easy one, with Ford saying that Marrithiyel is \u201cone of the most complicated\u201d languages to learn of all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. As a way to get around this, Ford is planning to record around 1000 of the most common Marrithiyel words from both male and female speakers. The app will then use common words to help users build up a vocabulary before they tackle the language\u2019s complex grammatical structures.<\/p>\n

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Ford says the app will be \u201cvery much a community-based program\u201d while at the same time utilising smartphone technology.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat better way to preserve and maintain these languages? If we don\u2019t do this, they\u2019re going to be going in the ground with my sisters and brothers, uncles and aunties and nannas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Since starting work on the app, Ford says she has been contacted by other Aboriginal communities asking how they can do the same thing for their languages. She also points out that similar things have been done before south of Brisbane.<\/p>\n

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Chief executive of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, Jason Glanville, told StartupSmart <\/i>he believes technology and culture can go hand-in-hand.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is the sort of stuff that gets me really excited and it\u2019s at the core of the Indigenous Digital Excellence (IDX) program is all about,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe use of digital opportunities to preserve, transmit, celebrate and grow culture through language or connection of culture is one of the big ambitions of the IDX program and our broader strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Glanville says new technology such as apps can build genuine economic opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.<\/p>\n

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\u201cCulture matters and it matters in all things,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe need to get past this fear that digital spaces are against culture. It\u2019s unavoidable that we all need to get better with how we engage with the digital space.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019d encourage all black fellas \u2013 but in particularly young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders \u2013 to not lose the opportunity that\u2019s presented by the digital space and not to be driven by digital opportunities, but to drive digital opportunities that suit them, their communities and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Follow <\/i>StartupSmart on <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>, and <\/i>LinkedIn<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For years app developers have set their eyes on Silicon Valley with the dream of making millions, but one team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}