Technology Has Role In Language Retention: Youth

Technology Has Role In Language Retention: Youth

Friday, December 03, 2010 at 14:46

A Dakota youth says technology would help other youth learn their First Nations languages.

Jacob Pratt is mostly self-taught through singing ceremonial songs and studying English-to-Dakota dictionaries.

He also helped develop Dakota language curriculum at the First Nations University of Canada.

Pratt says, while there, he spoke with a media company that developed hand-held video games that included language classes.

He says part of the problem is youth don’t have people they can have conversations with in their language since so many young people don’t speak their first languages.