First Nations languages will not survive if English is the be-all (fwd link)

[Phil Cash Cash]

*First Nations languages will not survive if English is the be-all*

by Gerry Georgatos
August 24th, 2014 AUS

First Nations languages will not survive if English is pushed into every
region of this continent as the be-all end-all. Languages and language
restoration academics and linguists argue that the loss of one’s
mother-tongue or that of their parents is the loss of a significant part of
their identity, and they argue that this could lead to the death of
culture. Some argue that the push for English and the neglect of first
languages are old-school racism.

Many experts say that the first languages of each region should be taught
in their schools. The East Arnhem’s Yalmay Yununpingu, an educator who is
fluent in her region’s several languages said that the “bush languages must
be taught in our schools by our bush teachers.”

“The Education Department needs to support our bush teachers and the
retention of our languages and to stop getting in the way of this.”

“Our children are sky-high literate in our languages even if they are not
in English. If we teach in our languages our students will do very well.”

Access full article below:
http://thestringer.com.au/first-nations-languages-will-not-survive-if-english-is-the-be-all-8328
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