50 Words Project

If you want to learn how to say a word in another language, where do you go first to find it? Probably, in this day and age, the internet, right? What about if you're trying to learn words in Indigenous languages from across Australia? You might know if you've tried, that it can be difficult to find the right resources to do this. That's why the Research Unit for Indigenous Language at the University of Melbourne came up with the 50 Words Project, an online resource aiming to provide 50 words in as many Indigenous languages in Australia as possible. Seeing as there are between 8-900 Indigenous languages across the country, this no small task! The words are supplied in written form, alongside an audio recording from a native speaker of that language. Of course, there are plenty of languages that don't have fluent language speakers anymore, and community members are trying to revive them. Professor Rachel Nordlinger is the Chief Investigator of the project, Aboriginal Way spoke to her from her workplace at the Research Unit for Indigenous language.