Lesson 1

Goals
In this lesson you will:


 * get to know some local people
 * start learning skin names
 * learn some simple vocabulary
 * pick up some learning tactics

Getting to know local people


First things first... get out 10 minutes earlier in the morning and take an indirect route to work, or wherever you're going. Greet people along the way with "kamak?" good?, or "ngudda kamak?" you good?

If you get talking to anyone, ask "what's your skin?" When they say it, copy them. Ask if you said it right.

Tell them your skin name if you have one, and who gave it to you. It's fine to use English for this.

Learning skin names
Bininj society is organised into eight sections, or skin groups. These are used to address people and to refer to people. Here we learn four of the skin names (female versions).

The arrows mark out a cycle of four generations of women and their offspring. Learning these terms, and remembering who begets who, is a great go-to topic for your early interactions. Skin and kinship, society and relationships, is a guaranteed safe topic, like the weather in western culture.

Western skin names
These are the ones to use if you live in the Gunbalanya or Jabiru areas.

ngal.wa.kadj → ngal.ba.nga.rdi → ngal.ka.ngi.la → ngal.ko.djok → ngal.wa.kadj

Eastern skin names
These are the ones to use if you live in the Maningrida, Bulman, or Pine Creek areas.

nga.rridj.djan → ka.manj → bu.lanj.djan → wa.mud.djan → nga.rridj.djan

NB the "rr" is pronounced like a short d.

Suppose you have a friend whose skin is ngalkodjok. Her children will be ngalwakadj and her mother will be ngalkangila. If she travels east, she will be called wamuddjan.

Learn more about Skin Names.

Listen to the first podcast
Listen to the first podcast or subscribe to one of the podcast feeds (SoundCloud, iTunes, PlayerFM).

It was recorded in Kabulwarnamyo, a remote West Arnhem homeland, with one of the traditional owners. There's a lot in this podcast, and you might want to do it in sections.

Listen out for the following words. We put dots between the syllables for now, to help with pronunciation.


 * ka.mak good (as a question, are you good?, or a statement, I'm good)
 * ba.leh yi.re? where are you going? (the h represents a glottal stop)
 * nga.bolk.nan I'm (just) looking around (the ng is often silent!)
 * nga.re I'm going
 * nga.wok.di kun.wok I'm speaking Kunwok (Kunwinjku)
 * ba.lan.da whitefella (or whitefella language)
 * ku.red home or camp
 * yoh, larrh yes, no
 * kan.dji.kan.dji waterhole (literally, low ground)
 * wo.le.wo.leh afternoon
 * mah, bo.bo ok, bye

Learn these words. Try making new phrases with them. Check your pronunciation with a local.

Things to try this week

 * 1) get out earlier each day and greet people
 * 2) listen to the first podcast at least twice, practice with people
 * 3) read about How to learn
 * 4) start a learning journal to log your activities and reflect on what you're learning
 * 5) join our online forum and interact with other learners in our slack channel.

N.B. Minimise your note-taking and try to get your learning process away from the world of pen-and-paper. It's fine to ask again if you forget something.