Sealaska Heritage Institute launched new language learning apps in X̱aad Kíl and Shm’algyack this month. These apps are the first of their kind and aim to open the door to learning endangered indigenous languages.
Leah Urbanski from Sealaska Heritage Institute recently demonstrated a new gaming app. She can choose the language she wants to practice (Lingít, X̱aad Kíl, Shm’algyack).
Mr. Urbanski chose the Haida word, X̱aad Kíl. Her phone screen was filled with animated sea creatures.
“So you have all kinds of live animals floating on the screen,” Urbanski said. “And whenever I click on it, this guy comes out of nowhere.”
A harbor seal appeared in the corner of the screen, looking at me. Urbanski tapped it and X̱aad Kíl’s name appeared: X̱úud.
On the Ringgit side, there are also options like a quiz game, a game set in the bird-filled forests of Southeast Alaska. This app is called SHI Language Games.
This app and two others released this month are SHI’s first attempt to introduce the Tsimshian language, X̱aad Kíl or Shm’algyack, in app form.
The new language apps, much like Lingít that SHI released a few years ago, are called SHI: Learning Haida and SHI: Learning Shm’algyack.
It includes phrases, vocabulary, alphabet breakdowns, and includes recordings to help learners pronounce each sound correctly.
The user hears the voice of X̱aad Kíl as Skíl Jáadei Linda Schrack and Shm’algyack as Shiggoap Alfie Price. Price and her Schrack partner worked with a team of language experts to create the app.
The X̱aad Kíl and Shm’algyack apps are currently a little thinner in content than the Lingít app, but Urbanski said that will change.
“For now, this is what we have,” she said. “But we’ll continue to add to this as we collect all kinds of vocabulary you need.”
She said these apps are another way learners can participate in X̱aad Kíl and Shm’algyack.
“I think it’s important to get the language out there in as many ways as possible, especially in an ever-evolving world,” Urbanski said. “Technology is used by many people and he is one of them.”
The apps are especially helpful for younger learners, she said, and are all free to download from the app store on iPhone and Android devices.
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