By Tego Wolasa
On 11th July 2021, Gabriella Marchant reported that Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri, two aboriginal languages, were making a comeback after total extinction.
Interestingly, the Kaurna language was last widely spoken in the early 1860s, and the last known speaker of the language, Ivaritji, died in 1929.
Ivaritji, The Last Kaurna Speaker Source: WikipediaLuckily, the language had been documented by dozens of researchers and missionaries.
A French explorer Joseph Paul Gaimard, for instance, recorded the first wordlist of the language in 1826.
Efforts to reconstruct and revive their language using the above documents commenced in the late 1980s.
Twenty-five years of effort bore fruits through songs written in the language, workshops, radio shows, introduction in schools, and even the University of Adelaide.
Last year, a phone app, as well as dictionaries in Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri, were published.
In addition, the first students of courses specially tailored to the teaching of Aboriginal language graduated last week.
It was not my intention to dwell on the Aboriginal languages. However, I mentioned the story because of the inspiration and lessons contained therein for Burji Language.
Our previous article, titled Burji Language is not disappearing anytime soon, discussed the status of the Burji language.
Several players, such as Dilla College, have been teaching the Burji language.
Buruuj Training institute, A pan-African e-learning instate based in Nairobi, Kenya, is set to launch the first-ever Burji language training course in Kenya and online.
Scheduled to start in September 2021, the course is divided into beginners, intermediate and advanced levels.
The Institute charges USD 30 for every level and has offered a 30% discount for its first 20 students.
The Institute also offers several other courses as outlined on the Buruuj Training Institute Website. Interested students can enroll for the September 2021 class via this enrolment link.
Mr. Tego. First thanks for maintaining this website which provides valuable information about our community. I occasionally visit the site to see some updates. The idea of teaching burji language to our people born and raised in Kenya and Diaspora is very important to not only make our generation and future generation multilingual but also create a sense of belonging and unity within our community. Are the charges indicated by the institute based on per semester or year basis? Also, is there a link or website that shows curriculum? Thanks.
Thank you, Daigo.
We really appreciate your kind comments and moral support.
The fee is per level. Each level takes six months.
For the curriculum, the Institute adopted and Burjinised the CEFR.
In the meantime, here is their website http://www.bti.ac.ke
Thanks!
Welcome