Bininj Kunwok, a language of Australia, is only used for oral communication. It is one of 12-15 languages that are still being learnt by children. I have a theory that "small acts of recognition", including efforts by outsiders to learn a language, contribute to local pride and the desire to keep a language strong.
However, Bininj Kunwok is especially hard to learn. For starters, you have to learn to think in verbs, instead of nouns as in English. (Most balanda get as far as substituting Kunwok nouns for English nouns, like manme (food) and daluk (woman), and then get stuck.) More that this, Kunwok is not primarily a written language – there's a writing system but it's not in daily use. This is a spoken language, first and foremost. One can try to learn it by writing it down, but what would it be like to learn it without going through the written form all the time? This page documents my exploration into oral language learning.
Some experimental resources, being made available for review:
Links:
This work is supported by Nawarddeken Academy, Warddeken Land Management, and the Northern Institute.
However, Bininj Kunwok is especially hard to learn. For starters, you have to learn to think in verbs, instead of nouns as in English. (Most balanda get as far as substituting Kunwok nouns for English nouns, like manme (food) and daluk (woman), and then get stuck.) More that this, Kunwok is not primarily a written language – there's a writing system but it's not in daily use. This is a spoken language, first and foremost. One can try to learn it by writing it down, but what would it be like to learn it without going through the written form all the time? This page documents my exploration into oral language learning.
Some experimental resources, being made available for review:
- Podcasts (Soundcloud, iTunes)
- Anki flashcards: Podcast Part-1, Skinship
- Skinship Workbook Part 1 (see attached file below)
Links:
This work is supported by Nawarddeken Academy, Warddeken Land Management, and the Northern Institute.
| kunwok-skinship-workbook-part1.pdf |
