It is the end of NAIDOC Week celebrations 2-9 July 2017. This year the theme is OUR LANGUAGES MATTER. 

And they do matter and this is what this website FOBL is about, supporting Aboriginal languages and Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory.

Here are some reflections and articles from the week. 

 

 

NAIDOC

 

Jukurrpa-kurlu Yapa-kurlangu-kurlu

 

Read the English Version

 

LANGUAGE & CULTURE       ABC Q and A Monday 3 July 2017
VALERIE NAPANANGKA PATTERSON asked: This week is NAIDOC Week, and the theme is our languages matter. I know that our languages matter and I have been as a teacher and literacy worker at Lajamanu School and Lajamanu Learning Centre since 1986, helping to teach Warlpiri language and literacy to our kids. There have been some good times at Lajamanu school, with a strong bilingual program, but there are also teachers who come in who don’t listen to us Yapa and don’t respect our language and culture. It makes us go weak at the knees and feel really down, and not want to work at the school anymore. What will it take for the Department of Education to work side by side with us, and respect our language and culture being taught in our community schools?