The Linguist

FEATURES @CIOL_Linguists AUGUST/SEPTEMBER The Linguist 19 they assume the person cannot speak English and is not participating as a citizen, and they often react negatively. We heard of a Turkish shopkeeper in San Francisco who realised that he had to use English when phoning his wife, because if he spoke to her in Turkish the customers would leave his shop. When indigenous people and immigrants share stories in their languages they show that they are keeping their cultures strong while simultaneously participating in civic life. Public displays of bilingualism teach us, and the storytellers themselves, that they do not have to forget who they are in order to belong here. However, the reality is that the people who attend language parties are already 'converted'. Thus, we see the primary audience of social change as the storytellers themselves. By owning their language in a public place and by having people listening attentively, they experience a new pride in their identity. They resolve to keep their languages strong. For recently arrived immigrants, this is a strengths-based approach to learning the locally dominant language. Early beginnings Language parties were established by the Aikuma Project, a non-profit based in Darwin, Australia, which seeks to create a world that sustains its languages (aikuma.org). At Aikuma, we imagine a world enriched by thousands of oral cultures. Small acts of recognition generate pride and create safe spaces for linguistic diversity in our urban centres. The project began as a partnership to design audio capture technology in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015. We thought that the world's endangered languages would be captured and preserved by a mobile app. However, it was only once we abandoned the idea of technology saving languages, and embraced the idea of people saving languages, that the project took off. Based on our experience of running or supporting fifteen language parties in seven countries, we have produced materials to help anyone interested in putting on an event themselves. Our website describes the steps involved, beginning with meeting storytellers and hearing their stories. We are on hand to provide guidance along the way, with guides to support budgeting, recruitment, rehearsals, publicity, logistics, production and so on. The starting point is to seek out the linguistic diversity wherever you are and connect with community leaders and cultural champions. Language parties are a source of refreshment and encouragement for anyone on the 'linguistic front line'. Visit languageparty.org to learn more about putting on a language party in your area, and to find stories and images from our shows. Written by Steven Bird, Jennifer Pinkerton, Robyn Perry and Manuel Maqueda. Edited extracts from an interview with storytellers at a show in Darwin, Australia – a multicultural city where many people don't speak English as a first language. Carine Kapiamba: Mbote, hi. I'm from the Democratic Republic of Congo, from a tribe called Baluba. I grew up in the capital city, Kinshasa, and left my country to live in Cameroon and then Australia. I speak Lingala, one of the four national languages we have in Congo (Swahili, Chiluba, Lingala and Kikongo) as well as Chiluba, French and English. You can't choose which language is your favourite: it's the way of communicating with others, of connecting. It's my identity, who I am. My story is about my life experience. I had the opportunity to meet people in the north of Cameroon and going across another country called Chad. Those people, no one really cared about them or allowed them to develop themselves, to give them access. When I went there, I didn't look the way they looked like. I tried to put myself on their level. I didn't know at the time but I was the first person to do that, and it really changed the whole village. Prasanthi Silva: I grew up in Sri Lanka then I moved to Australia. I'm very cultural, because I love my language, Sinhalese. The root is Sanskrit, with a mixture of Pali, Hindu and Tamil. I think every Sri Lankan knows the story I will tell. It's the beginning of our history – the written history. It's about a tribal queen from Yakshi tribe and a prince who came from India. She was the first single mum in Sri Lankan history. I want a connection between modern and old; I want a tribute to all the single mums, and ladies who face domestic violence, because she faced the same thing. AJ: I come from Ngukurr, Australia, which is east of Katherine. I work at the language centre teaching Kriol and Marra – my traditional language, my grandmother's language. Teaching the language is beautiful. You feel honoured and like you're on a mission. For my story, I'll be speaking in my language – the new language spoken in the community – which is called Kriol. I'll be talking about me and my father having a conversation. He raised me up. One of the big things we do at the language centre is run a Kriol awareness course, which is basically teaching non-Indigenous people our cultural way and how to communicate. People come from all over the Northern Territory. For the full interview visit tinyurl.com/Aikuma1. THE STORYTELLERS

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