Batchelor Institute’s Top End First Nations Languages team welcomed cohorts from the Belyuen and Numbulwar communities to Batchelor Campus to begin delivery of the Certificate III in Learning an Australian First Nations Language.

Students from Belyuen are studying Batjamalh, Emmi and Mendhe languages. Wadjiginy country extends from Point Blaze at the southern end of Fog Bay to the mouth of the Daly River. Batjamalh is now spoken by only a few Elders, mostly residing at Balgal. The neighbouring Emmiyangal and Mendheyangal countries are located along the coastal strip south of the Daly River mouth, from the Cliff Head region towards Red Cliff, and are largely associated with Mabulhuk.

At the same time, Batchelor’s Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics (CALL) is working in collaboration with Numburindi Development Aboriginal Corporation (NDAC) to support deliverables under the NDAC language project, Numburindi Upskilling to Preserve our Language. The project is managed and driven by Nunggubuyu in Numbulwar as part of their ongoing efforts to revitalise Wubuy language.

Wubuy is spoken fluently by a small number of families in Numbulwar who are committed to seeing younger generations speak the language confidently and fluently, and to strengthening its distinction from Kriol spoken in the region.

Key outcomes of the project include upskilling local staff in language work through completion of the Certificate III in Learning an Australian First Nations Language (Wubuy), creating a pathway to the Certificate IV in Teaching an Australian First Nations Language, and developing a dictionary by semantic domain book focused primarily on plants and animals.

The two-week delivery concluded with students presenting their languages to Batchelor Institute’s Higher Education, Research and Language Division (HERLD), marking International Mother Language Day with a celebration of learning, language and cultural continuity.