Describing grammar for language learners: Living Languages Learners Guide for Pama-Nyungan revitalisation
Living Languages have created a Learners Guide grammar template, for people who want to create language-learning materials for their language. The Learners Guide is written in plain English, and includes extensive information about what could be included, and how to talk about it. The guide is designed for Pama-Nyungan languages, the most wide-spread language family in Australia.
From the Living Languages website:
The template has been written with Pama-Nyungan revitalisation languages in mind. We hope it will be used and adapted by communities for their own needs - giving life to, and showcasing the individuality and beauty of, their languages. It has been created for people to make it their own and share their language in a way that would best suit their community of language speakers and future generations.
The reference group has designed this resource as a tool for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people working on their own languages. Please respect the people who are the authority for the language and follow their wishes and protocols if you are not from the language community.
We would like to keep a record of who has a copy of the template, so that if we make any updates or additional resources, or find any errors, we can let you know.
The Learners Guide was a major project for Living Language in 2019. They had a team of people writing and reviewing the document. I helped out with some of the general sections – after writing a descriptive grammar it was an interesting challenge to help with a grammar specifically for learners.
The Learners Guide template document can be requested from Living Languages through their website. The materials have been specifically written with Australian languages in mind, but it could be adapted if you’re working on creating resources for other communities.











