Proud Indigenous cousins teach university classes to keep the Noongar language alive

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Two West Australian cousins are helping to keep the Noongar language alive by teaching classes at a Perth university. Following in the footsteps of their Mum and aunty, who wrote the first Aboriginal language course ever taught at an Australian university three decades ago.

Transcript

00:00Dylan Collard is teaching Noongar language at Murdoch University.

00:06Okay, how can I say?

00:07Marley.

00:08Marley.

00:09Nice little job.

00:10Jiddi Jiddi.

00:11Okay, uh, Jiddi Jiddi.

00:13I go into schools and teach the language and kids are learning it, you know, and the

00:19word Jiddi Jiddi, you know, kids everywhere are using that for the willy-wag tale.

00:24The Wadjuk and Baladong Noongar man would like to hear everyone speaking some Noongar.

00:28And one of the first phrases I love to teach no matter where I am, we say Ngunuk Muric

00:33or Ngunuk Kwap, you know, and it's almost like a how you're doing type thing.

00:38And you can say Ngun Muric or Ngun Kwap, you know, I'm doing good, I'm doing great, I'm

00:42feeling strong.

00:43The class is the brainchild of Dylan's cousin Aaron Taylor, who was inspired by his mother,

00:47Aunty Marie Taylor.

00:48Recently I found out that mum was actually the first person to put language in an Australian

00:53university, which she did here at Murdoch University.

00:55That was about 30 years ago.

00:57Hopefully make her and, you know, our grandparents and ancestors proud that, you know, our language

01:04is still here and still being spoken.

01:06Can we say Ngurla?

01:07Ngurla.

01:08Ngurla.

01:09Ngurla.

01:10Ngurla.

01:11Ngurla.

01:12Ngurla.

01:13Their mothers spent hours recording their grandfather speaking Noongar before he died.

01:16They actually built a dictionary out of Pop Tom's old traditional language that he used to speak.

01:23Wait, show me there.

01:24We've got all the staff in the centre now all conversing with each other on Teams and through

01:30emails using language now and it's such a cool sight to see.

01:34Ngurla.

01:35I didn't really know any language.

01:36I knew kind of key words like Morich and Buja but being able to have that conversation

01:42now has been really great.

01:44The class is offered to First Nations students and staff with plans for expansion.

01:51Hieronymatism is now.

01:52Davidson is now we're really glad to be with why you're staying working on the ground.

02:09All the staff of� in New Zealand has been willing to payyou to start talking about early Lyма,

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