It’s not just certain animals that are in danger of becoming extinct. There are also indigenous languages that may eventually become endangered because the number of native speakers keeps dwindling every year. The younger generation rarely learns or speaks the language at home or in school. Google Arts & Culture now has a new tool called Woolaroo that will help speakers and learners of such languages to adapt to an evolving world through digital technology. The first language that will be featured here is Yugambeh, an indigenous Australian language in Southeast Queensland.
Woolaroo is a new experiment from the Google Arts & Culture app and it uses the Google Cloud Vision API to create this open-source tool. It encourages language communities to add to the word lists and also audio recordings to help others understand the pronunciation. While Yugambeh is the first Australian Aboriginal language to be featured here, it also supports 10 other global languages including Louisiana Creole, Calabrian Greek, Māori, Nawat, Tamazight, Sicilian, Yang Zhuang, Rapa Nui, and Yiddish.
The tool lets users add, edit, and delete entries so that the power is in the hands of the indigenous communities themselves or anyone who speaks the language natively. They are encouraging people to interact and respond immediately if there needs to be corrections, additions or removal from the word lists. If you don’t speak the language but your family member or friend does, they can contribute through you if they are not familiar with devices and technology.
And if you want to learn an indigenous language because of your heritage or if you’re just curious about the culture, this would be a great tool to have especially if the indigenous communities themselves will be adding their word lists and pronunciations to this tool. Learning another language is a great way to explore and understand diversity and heritage. While apps like Duolingo and even Google Translate tackle the more common languages, Woolaroo’s focus is on those that are indigenous and may be endangered in the future.
You can explore Woolaroo on the Google Arts & Culture app, which we always say is one of the most underrated of Google’s apps. You can also go to g.co/woolaroo to start exploring.
