Revitalizing Language through Early Learning

As per the 2016 Canadian Census, only about 1 in 5 Indigenous Peoples are able to speak their Traditional Language. The reason behind the loss of our language, culture, and traditions can be directly linked to colonization, assimilation and the aftermath of the Residential School System. With many of our knowledge holders and language speakers becoming older, there is a risk of losing some dialects of our languages forever. Recently, researchers from Harvard and MIT conducted a significant study on language learning and age. The study suggested that starting to learn a new language before the age of 10 provides the best chance of achieving proficiency similar to that of a native speaker.

If we create opportunities for families and children who are living outside their home communities where language immersion programs predominantly run, we may have a higher chance of our language continuing, being reclaimed, and revitalized.

My proposed solution to address this problem involves leveraging my expertise in early childhood development to design a framework for digital applications that is centered around how children learn.

To accomplish this, I plan to create a mobile app framework for an early learning language application that would enable communities to collaborate with me and use the framework to develop a digital application that reflects their language, artwork, and language speakers. This approach is designed to promote early learning through play, and the community would provide the recordings of their language speakers, artwork representing the language being spoken, and the overall content. The framework would already be created, so the community would only need to input their information and tailor the application to their language and culture.

By establishing a framework that is rooted in how children learn during the early years and can be shared and reused, we can provide communities across Turtle Island with an accessible way to incorporate language learning into technology.

Implementing my proposed solution will benefit the next generation of language speakers in our communities by providing them with a means to learn their language in a modern, engaging way. Additionally, it will help bridge the gap between our elders and children, fostering a stronger sense of connection and community.

Through the use of modern technology, our children will learn to speak their language by listening to the voices of our elders and viewing the artwork of our artists. This revitalization process will have a positive impact on everyone in our communities, contributing to our ongoing efforts to reconnect with our culture, language, and traditions.

This will benefit every community across Turtle Island. 

As a Métis woman who is unable to speak my traditional language, I understand firsthand the feeling of loss and disconnection from my culture and identity. Indigenous languages are deeply intertwined with community, land, ancestors, and spirituality. When we cannot speak our language, we can feel isolated and disconnected.

That's why I am committed to working alongside knowledgeable community members to create a collaborative solution that reflects the unique needs of each community. I want to collaborate with an Indigenous-owned company to complete the application design, and work with Indigenous communities, their artists, knowledge holders, and language speakers to ensure that their specific version of the application is reflective of their culture and language.

In addition, I plan to empower interested youth in application design to join us and learn as we build and create this solution, so they can manage the content for their own communities.

Ultimately, this is a collaborative approach to a shared issue. While this may be my initial idea and solution, I firmly believe that it will only be successful through our collective efforts and collaboration.

I have built a very basic version of what I want the application to look like within my personal skill set. I have an entire roadmap that I've created on how I envision it to work, but I lack the skills to put it all together. 

My biggest barrier is financial, it is extremely expensive to pay an application company to take what I've created and turn it into something that is functional and is easy to manage and interchange the content of. 

Ideally, these finished applications would be free for community members to access. Which means the back end of this needs to be funded in some way shape or form. Elders need to be compensated for their time in sharing their language and knowledge, artists need to be paid for their artwork etc. 

I am an active member within my Metis communities, as well as the indigenous community I reside in and serve. I am currently working full time for an Indigenous youth employment and training organization.