Ebook: An introduction to conversational Kriol

Publisher: SIL Asutralian Aborigines Branch (Darwin)
Publication date: 1982
ISBN: N.A.
Number of pages: 94A course in conversational Australian Kriol begins with a discussion of language learning and an outline of the course design. Thirty-five lessons follow, to be used with cassette recordings (not
included). Each lesson, except the review lessons, has six sections: a conversation sample, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, useful expressions, and supplementary information. The first three sections are interrelated and are to be drilled as a unit. The two review lessons each consist of a story, questions, pronunciation exercises, and useful expressions. An appended essay looks at preconceptions about language and relates anecdotes about characteristics of the English language.

Kriol is an Aboriginal creole English spoken by more than 15,000 Aborigines in the north of Australia. The full extent of Kriol, both geographically and population wise, is not yet fully known, nor have all the dialects of Kriol been delineated. Kriol is known to be spoken as a primary language by many Aboriginal communities throughout the Kimberley region of Western Australia and the northern half of the Northern Territory. In some of these communities, it is spoken as a mother tongue by three generations. It is also known to be used by many Aborigines in the northwest of Queensland.
Nida (1950:54) has pointed out that 'Rather than attempting to study several dialects at once, [a language learner] should concentrate on a single dialect and learn it well. By doing so he can make the transfer to other dialects with much less difficulty than if he attempts to compress dialect distinctions into his initial studies.'. For this reason, we believe the lessons presented here in one particular dialect of Kriol will be useful to all who desire to learn Kriol. This course is based on the Roper dialect. The conversations in each lesson have been constructed mainly from recordings of Betty Roberts and Cherry Daniels of Ngukurr, NT. The Kriol speakers heard on the cassettes for the regular lessons are Ross Thompson, Wendy Thompson, and Una Thompson, also of Ngukurr.
We have tried to present a minimum of grammatical information in technical terms. In most cases where we have had to use a technical form we have used it in its broad sense as defined in The Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary. Throughout the course where possible we have given in parentheses ( ) the page number where the point in focus is discussed in the Kriol 'Grammar'. We encourage you to get a copy of the 'Grammar': An Australian Creole in the Northern Territory: A Description of Ngukurr-Bamyili Dialects (Part 1) by John F. Sandefur, Work Papers of SIL-ABB, Series B, Volume 3, 1979. (Part 2 of the 'Grammar' is still in preparation). We also suggest you to get a copy of the Kriol 'Dictionary': Beginning of a Ngukurr-Bamyili Creole Dictionary compiled by John R. and Joy L. Sandefur, Work Papers of SIL-AAB, Series B, Volume 4, 1979.