Hey sorry. I haven't posted for a while. To play catch-up I'll just have to summarise the last couple of weeks, but I'm going to do it in the style of my real banji (brother-in-law), who describes things as a 'F' (big 'f') - which is a good thing and then 'f' (little 'f') - which is a not-so-good thing. Here's a summary of the last couple of weeks working here at Ngukurr:
F - an amazing session working with old MT on Marra. FR and BR were also there, creating a very rare Marra speech community. We recorded some conversation. MT *demanded* I speak Marra to her ("You've been here long enough!"), which was extremely difficult but fun. We translated and transcribed 6 minutes of Marra in 3 hours. JJ and AJ learned some basic skills on ELAN. It was pretty spectacular.
F - helping three artists with stories for their entries to the 27th Telstra Aboriginal Art Award. Not only do I love learning about the art, I also get a lot of satisfaction from knowing the stories are going to be fairly accurate cuz I have a decent level of cultural understanding. But the best part is that the artists are really happy that their stories are being written down well.
f - the rain hasn't stopped and the community is still cut off by road
F - Another workshop for the guys I work with who are enrolled in the Batchelor course for Own Language Work. They're getting through it pretty well. Especially my wawa, AG, who has come so far in two years.
f - Nobody is interested in Nunggubuyu and no one has been teaching Nunggubuyu at the school.
F - JJ gave me a present - a set of beautiful clapsticks. So lovely. (I went to Katherine and he had $350 to buy him a chainsaw. It cost $440 and I said 'don't worry about the rest, but you have to make me something now!'. And he did... hehe... I like it when humbugging works in your favour.)
f - my house in Katherine is getting mouldy and full of weeds and I'm not there to look after it
f - there's somebody in Katherine who I'm missing a bit too much
F - the Waagilak mob here are doing great. Teaching with commitment and enthusiasm. Now I just have convince them to work at language centre everyday and learn to read n write Waagilak... hehehe
F- Our territory MP Barb McCarthy came to visit last week and I had a good chat with her. She really supports what we do, which is lovely.
f - Mal Brough is still our Federal Minister. And that somebody is still PM... but maybe not for long :-)
Any questions? I can expand if you like... otherwise I'll just continue going about my business.
And I should take some photos to make this blog look lively.... hmmm...
F - an amazing session working with old MT on Marra. FR and BR were also there, creating a very rare Marra speech community. We recorded some conversation. MT *demanded* I speak Marra to her ("You've been here long enough!"), which was extremely difficult but fun. We translated and transcribed 6 minutes of Marra in 3 hours. JJ and AJ learned some basic skills on ELAN. It was pretty spectacular.
F - helping three artists with stories for their entries to the 27th Telstra Aboriginal Art Award. Not only do I love learning about the art, I also get a lot of satisfaction from knowing the stories are going to be fairly accurate cuz I have a decent level of cultural understanding. But the best part is that the artists are really happy that their stories are being written down well.
f - the rain hasn't stopped and the community is still cut off by road
F - Another workshop for the guys I work with who are enrolled in the Batchelor course for Own Language Work. They're getting through it pretty well. Especially my wawa, AG, who has come so far in two years.
f - Nobody is interested in Nunggubuyu and no one has been teaching Nunggubuyu at the school.
F - JJ gave me a present - a set of beautiful clapsticks. So lovely. (I went to Katherine and he had $350 to buy him a chainsaw. It cost $440 and I said 'don't worry about the rest, but you have to make me something now!'. And he did... hehe... I like it when humbugging works in your favour.)
f - my house in Katherine is getting mouldy and full of weeds and I'm not there to look after it
f - there's somebody in Katherine who I'm missing a bit too much
F - the Waagilak mob here are doing great. Teaching with commitment and enthusiasm. Now I just have convince them to work at language centre everyday and learn to read n write Waagilak... hehehe
F- Our territory MP Barb McCarthy came to visit last week and I had a good chat with her. She really supports what we do, which is lovely.
f - Mal Brough is still our Federal Minister. And that somebody is still PM... but maybe not for long :-)
Any questions? I can expand if you like... otherwise I'll just continue going about my business.
And I should take some photos to make this blog look lively.... hmmm...
Comments
"Nobody is interested in Nunggubuyu and no one has been teaching Nunggubuyu at the school"
Seriously? Are you talking at Ngukurr or Numbulwar? (I've interpreted it as Numbulwar, but don't think that's what you meant)
Great to have you back in the blogosphere!
La Ngukurr ai min.
But thanks for the update! Good to hear the big Fs, sorry about the little fs.