Posted to the Ethnos Project by on June 25th, 2012

FirstVoices Chat

From the First Peoples’ Cultural Council press release (in full below): Brentwood Bay, B.C. – FirstVoices Chat, an Indigenous language texting app for Facebook Chat and Google Talk, is now available at the Apple App Store as a free download for iPad, iTouch and iPhone. The app contains custom keyboards for hundreds of Indigenous languages in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. The app can be downloaded from www.firstvoices.com or http://itunes.apple.com.

“We’re excited to launch this new piece of technology, which allows First Nations people to return to the everyday use of their heritage languages using their mobile devices,” said Peter Brand, FirstVoices Manager at the First Peoples’ Cultural Council. “The primary audience for the new app is First Nations youth, but we expect the positive effects of these innovative literacy tools to ripple out to speakers and learners of all ages.”

FirstVoices Chat was developed by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council with funding from the First Nations Technology Council. “The First Nations Technology Council is thrilled to participate in the development of a tool that contributes to First Nations language revitalization by enabling their use in daily conversations,” said Norm Leech, Executive Director of the FNTC.

The development of the keyboarding technology at the core of FirstVoices Chat was funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Aboriginal Languages Initiative.

The full document is presented below. Use the icons to navigate…
To see the document full-screen or print it, use the far right icon or click here.

[source]

FirstVoices Chat User Guide

The full document is presented below. Use the icons to navigate…
To see the document full-screen or print it, use the far right icon or click here.

[source]

Other Great Language Apps from the FirstVoices website:

FirstVoices Chat
FirstVoices Chat app

Released: June 18, 2012
Northern StÃï'√°tÃï'imcets app logo
Northern St̕’át̕’imcets app

Updated: Mar 22, 2012
Ktunaxa app logo
Ktunaxa app

Released: Mar 14, 2012
Sliammon app logo
Sliammon app

Updated: Mar 14, 2012
Nisgña'a app logo
Nisg̱a’a app

Released: Jan 25, 2012
Ehattesaht app logo
Ehattesaht app

Released: Jan 18, 2012
KwakÃìwala app logo
Kwak̓wala app

Released: Dec 21, 2011
Skidegate Haida Language app logo
Skidegate Haida app

Released: Oct 27, 2011
SENĆOŦEN app logo
SENĆOŦEN app

Released: Sep 30, 2011
Halq'eméylem app logo
Halq’eméylem app

Released: Sep 30, 2011

 

More Information

FirstVoices: www.firstvoices.com
First Peoples’ Cultural Council: www.fpcc.ca
First Nations Technology Council: www.fntc.info
CTV piece about FirstVoice’s Chat: http://www.ctv.ca

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *