59:, audio recordings, words, phrases, songs and stories. The languages sites include kid-friendly views of the content, and games based on the uploaded words and media. As of 2024, FirstVoices hosts 65 public and 17 private sites for British Columbia languages, and also supports Indigenous communities throughout Canada, the US, New Zealand and Australia.
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Language Tutor and
Language Lab - released in 2010, FirstVoices Language Tutor was a tool for creating language lessons, and Language Lab was a portable kit for delivering lessons via "a laptop server, Wi-Fi antenna, power bar, and set of iPads". The lessons allowed users to "listen to a word or
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The target audience for FirstVoices is
Indigenous language learners. These make up the majority of the more than 350,000 yearly FirstVoices site visits, though many visitors are non-Indigenous people interested in Indigenous languages. Online tools provide access to
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Indigenous language revitalization is a time-sensitive concern in BC and globally. Many
Indigenous languages face a loss of fluent speakers, many of whom are over 65 years old. Almost three-quarters of BC's Indigenous population live away from
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FirstVoices keyboards – desktop keyboard software and mobile keyboard apps for over 100 languages, including every First
Nations language in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and many Indigenous languages spoken in the United
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Chat app - in 2012, before Apple allowed third-party keyboards on iPhones, FirstVoices produced a chat app that supported typing in every
Indigenous language in North America and Australia. This has been replaced by keyboard
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phrase, record themselves speaking and then compare the result with a recording of a fluent speaker" as well as other types of quizzes and games. Parents and teachers could monitor student progress.
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FirstVoices.com was launched in 2003, and allows language teams from
Indigenous communities to create secure, interactive web sites to document and promote their languages by uploading
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and are less likely to have access to language and cultural programming. There is a growing population of language learners in BC, many of whom are children and younger adults.
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elders, technical staff and others. Most language sites are publicly accessible, but others are password-protected at the direction of their individual language community.
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language revitalization. In the two decades since FirstVoices started, it has grown to host language sites for nearly 100 languages and language varieties.
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Officially launched in 2003, the idea for FirstVoices came about in 1999 from Peter Brand and J,SIṈTEN (Dr. John
Elliott), leaders in online
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FirstVoices dictionary apps – 17 free and open-source mobile apps which reflect content in FirstVoices language sites.
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In 2023 FirstVoices migrated to a new version with a rebuilt back-end that uses
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536:"FirstVoices Language Tutor Provides New First Nations Language Teaching Tool"
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323:"Cloud-based software deployed for First Nations language preservation"
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511:"Geek Speak: Jared Deck, Sto:lo Shxweli Halq'eméylem Language Program"
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256:"FirstVoices: Bringing Indigenous Language Legacies into the Future"
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Training and grants through FPCC's
Language Technology Program.
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Gessner, Suzanne; Parker, Aliana; Herbert, Tracey (2022).
619:(Fourth ed.). First Peoples' Cultural Council.
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Report on the Status of B.C. First
Nations Languages
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588:"Keyboard app brings Indigenous languages to mobile"
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377:"FirstVoices — Introduction"
254:Maffi, Luisa (Winter 2010).
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296:"FirstVoices Fact Sheet"
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349:"About FirstVoices"
142:History and context
432:"BC Sans Typeface"
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263:Langscape
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