Well it's been a while since I posted about me and what's been going on. And as per usual, there's always a lot going on...
I had the best, most rejuvenating, coolest week at work last week. I was lecturing first-year linguistics students at Batchelor while in neighbouring classrooms the second and third years were also deeply involved in their linguistics studies. It is just so fantastic to be around a great group of people who are all determined and passionate about their language. And such a diverse bunch - from every part of Australia, young and old, experienced and new (in terms of doing language work), fluent speakers and those trying to get their language back. But the link between them all is the passion for their own language which is really inspiring considering considering how tough it can be for Indigenous languages in this country.
So now I'm back in Katherine and procrastinating. I'm supposed to be writing a funding submission and an article for a journal. The first one is for an exciting project but unfortunately writing funding submissions is always a chore. The second job (the article) is pretty cool - I'm writing about language revitalisation at Ngukurr. I've found it really quite challenging because I haven't done anything remotely like academic writing since University which is a long time ago now! It's such a slow process when you actually have to do some research and not just say what you think. Phew.
Speaking of language revitalisation at Ngukurr - my article is not going to be like the one being delivered at an international conference that doesn't have anything good to say about the language program me and the Ngukurr language workers ran at Ngukurr school for 3 years.... but that's another story and probably one i shouldn't air on here...
The wet season is in full swing in Katherine which means the heat is off and the rain is on and the weeds are growing and so is the mould in my house. Waaaah! I think I'll just employ a full-time gardener and cleaner so that I can procrastinate with less guilt.
But all in all, life's good, work's good and I have no complaints. I saw a movie called Young@Heart last night which was wonderful. Team that up with a movie called 'Happy-go-lucky' and I'll never complain again. Those movies are good medicine.
I had the best, most rejuvenating, coolest week at work last week. I was lecturing first-year linguistics students at Batchelor while in neighbouring classrooms the second and third years were also deeply involved in their linguistics studies. It is just so fantastic to be around a great group of people who are all determined and passionate about their language. And such a diverse bunch - from every part of Australia, young and old, experienced and new (in terms of doing language work), fluent speakers and those trying to get their language back. But the link between them all is the passion for their own language which is really inspiring considering considering how tough it can be for Indigenous languages in this country.
So now I'm back in Katherine and procrastinating. I'm supposed to be writing a funding submission and an article for a journal. The first one is for an exciting project but unfortunately writing funding submissions is always a chore. The second job (the article) is pretty cool - I'm writing about language revitalisation at Ngukurr. I've found it really quite challenging because I haven't done anything remotely like academic writing since University which is a long time ago now! It's such a slow process when you actually have to do some research and not just say what you think. Phew.
Speaking of language revitalisation at Ngukurr - my article is not going to be like the one being delivered at an international conference that doesn't have anything good to say about the language program me and the Ngukurr language workers ran at Ngukurr school for 3 years.... but that's another story and probably one i shouldn't air on here...
The wet season is in full swing in Katherine which means the heat is off and the rain is on and the weeds are growing and so is the mould in my house. Waaaah! I think I'll just employ a full-time gardener and cleaner so that I can procrastinate with less guilt.
But all in all, life's good, work's good and I have no complaints. I saw a movie called Young@Heart last night which was wonderful. Team that up with a movie called 'Happy-go-lucky' and I'll never complain again. Those movies are good medicine.
Comments
You know you shouldn't have referenced your negative publicity, but you did and now we want to know who is criticizing you and your language work and in what context?
Good for you to write a scholarly article. It's good to stretch back in that direction sometimes, I think, especially if it helps in your other, more practical, work.
Enjoy the wet!