SEALASKA Heritage Launches Language Resources Project (fwd)

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SEALASKA Heritage Launches Language Resources Project

November 08, 2004 Monday
http://www.sitnews.us/1104news/110804/110804_language_project.html

Alaska - Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has launched an online
project to share Native language tools with language students and
teachers.

The language resources project so far includes the Tlingit alphabet, a
Tlingit phrase of the week section and a children's book written in
Tlingit called Salmon Boy, recently produced by SHI and posted in a
printable form.

The alphabet and Tlingit phrases may be read on the web and also heard
by clicking on them. The alphabet section includes audio of sounds plus
words that incorporate the sounds.

"Because Tlingit sounds are complicated and difficult to make, students
need to hear  the sounds many times before they can produce them," said
 Dr. Rosita Worl, SHI president. "The institute's online Tlingit
alphabet gives students easy access to the sounds as many times as they
need to hear them."

SHI plans to frequently add new materials to the site, which also
includes links to the institute's three other language webs:
www.tlingitlanguage.org; www.haidalanguage.org; and
www.tsimshianlanguage.org.  The institute encourages Native language
teachers to also use the materials.

"Our main goals are to assist Native language teachers by providing
downloadable resources they can use in their classrooms and to make
materials accessible to learners everywhere who do not have access to
fluent speakers," Worl said.

Sealaska Heritage Institute  is a private, nonprofit founded in 1981 to
administer cultural and educational programs for Sealaska Corp. The
institute is  governed by an all-Native board of trustees. Its mission
is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of
Southeast Alaska. SHI launched the language resources project to help
perpetuate and revitalize Native languages, a top priority of the
institute.

Language Resources Project

Source of News:
Sealaska Heritage Institute  (SHI Web Site