Talk To Me

Speak up...

In as many languages as you can! 

It’s International Mother Language Day. 

UNESCO started this day –

back in 2000. 

Now, Mother Language Day

is celebrated all over the world. 

day is used to promote

the importance of linguistics,

cultural diversity

and multilingualism.

It seems strange to have a day

 to promote Mother Languages...

But there have been so many

 languages lost over time

 and generations. 

Stories and legends –

once very important

have been forgotten

as their speakers died. 

We should be proud of our languages. 

They hold the key to our culture. 

Australia was once rich

with language. 

Not so much, today...

In Australia, before Europeans arrived,

there were 250 Aboriginal languages. 

Today, the number of Aboriginal languages in Australia still used as a mother tongue is down to 145.  110 of these are “critically endangered”.   There are 20 Aboriginal languages spoken in NSW today – but only 10 are considered “healthy” enough to be included in school curriculums.   Around 11% of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people speak an Aboriginal language at home.  Most of them also speak English. (In remote areas, the numbers of people speaking an Aboriginal language is 50%.)  Only 62% of Aboriginal adults identified with a clan, language or tribal group – makes me wonder what impact the Stolen Generation had on these numbers.  Incredibly, only 20% of surveyed Western Australians were supportive of a suggested inclusion of Indigenous languages into the school curriculum.

This information was taken

from the Creative Spirits webpage.

 In the words of Roger Hart

(Aboriginal Elder) –

“When I speak language,

it makes me feel (at) home”.

Today’s a great day

to remind us to keep

the old languages alive.