New Book

[Andre Cramblit]

Indigenous language book to keep culture alive

A new book is helping young Indigenous children learn some of the languages
that will help maintain ties with their culture into
adulthood.

Indigenous Children's Services Unit project development officer, Andrew
Burns, says the book, Language - Our Right, Our
Identity, is being used in more than 120 Indigenous child care services in
Queensland.

Mr Burns says the approach helps young Indigenous children become truly
bi-lingual and move easily between their traditional
language and English.

"What we're actually looking at is trying to implement Indigenous languages
into the early childcare curriculum, the reason being
it's a lot easier for a child to learn certain concepts within their home
or native language than it is to learn English, because it is a
well-known and proven fact that English, within itself, is one of the
hardest languages in the world to learn."