Tusaalanga Inuktitut

March 15, 2008

A French version of Tusaalanga will soon be a reality thanks to support from the governments of Canada and Nunavut.

The Pirurvik Centre received support through the Canada-Nunavut Co-operation Agreement in support of French and Inuit Languages. The funding will be used to translate the content of Tusaalanga into French and make improvements to the website to support a third language.

The French version of Tusaalanga will be launched in September 2008.

July 13, 2007

The Pirurvik Centre will offer a new set of courses in Inuktitut as a Second Language beginning in September 2007. Three new courses are planned, each designed for learners at different skill levels.

INUKTITUT FOUNDATION
Helps learners with no background in the language to master the essentials of Inuktitut, including correct pronunciation.

ISL NEXT STEP
Builds the ability to communicate simply in a variety of situations. In-class instruction is complemented by a one-week intensive session with daily immersion.

ISL INTERMEDIATE
Is a program designed for those who are ready for more complex skills. This program features regular classroom instruction and 2 weeks of intensive sessions with daily immersion.

July 13, 2007

Pirurivk has added Inuktitut songs as a new learning feature on the Tusaalanga website. The four songs were taken from Leena Evic's popular CD of children's music, Inuttaqalauqpuq.

The songs are accessed through the "DIALOGUES" link that appears at the top of the Home Page. The songs appear as follows:

• inngiusit - matuikkik, matukkik
• inngiusit - Nutarautillunga
• inngiusit - aqqutialuk surappuq
• inngiusit - Pattagissi

As part of Pirurvik's delivery of its Inuktitut Second Language
Program, instructors use songs to help learners memorize vocabulary and
master the rhythm of the language. Students responded with
enthusiasm. As a result, Pirurvik decided to make music a feature of
its Tusaalanga website.

ᔪᓚᐃ 10, 2007

ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ) ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᖅ ᐱᒡᒐᓇᙱᓕᒃᑲᓂᕐᓂᐊᓕᖅᑯᖅ ᓴᖅᑭᖅᑕᐅᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᐃᑭᐊᖅᑭᕕᒃᑰᖓᔪᖅ ᖃᕋᓴᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ, ᑕᐃᔭᖅ ᑐᓵᓚᖓ [www.tusaalanga.ca]. ᑖᓐᓇ ᐃᑭᐊᖅᑭᕕᒃᑯᑦ ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᕐᕕᒃ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐱᕈᕐᕕᑯᓐᓄᑦ, ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᑎᑦᑎᓂᕐᒥᒍᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᒐᕙᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᒥᓂᔅᑕᐃᑦ ᑐᖏᓕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᕆᐅᖅᓴᓂᕐᒥᒃ. ᐱᕈᕐᕕᒃ ᑎᒥᖁᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂ.

July 10, 2007

Learning Inuktitut just got a little less challenging with the launch of a comprehensive multi-media website, dubbed Tusaalanga [www.tusaalanga.ca]. The website was developed by the Pirurvik Centre, an Iqaluit-based company, as part of their program to train the Government of Nunavut’s Deputy Ministers in Inuktitut, the territory’s largest language.

“The creation of Nunavut has made speaking Inuktitut an essential skill for people in all professions to engage with the public,” said Leena Evic, President and founder of Pirurvik. “Tusaalanga is part of our efforts to make the language training we provided Government of Nunavut Deputy Ministers available to a larger number of people.”

Tusaalanga means let me hear it in Inuktitut. The website features hundreds of soundfiles of vocabulary, dialogues and songs that let the user hear how the language is pronounced. The website also features grammar lessons and a glossary with over 600 terms. Tusaalanga was built in collaboration with Pirurvik’s partner, Web Networks, using the successful Attavik.net service.

“We know that there are a lot of people out there who are eager to learn Inuktitut and who are frustrated by the limited opportunities to do so,” said Evic. “Tusaalanga is a rich resource that will help people to build their Inuktitut skills on their own time.”

Pirurvik will offer three new Inuktitut courses to the public beginning this fall. “Tusaalanga is most valuable as a learning resource when it is complemented by in-class instruction,” said Evic. “There is no substitute for face-to-face learning with a professional instructor.”

Pirurvik was contracted in 2006 to train the Government of Nunavut’s Deputy Ministers in Inuktitut. It is the territory’s largest language and the most commonly spoken in the Legislative Assembly and around the Cabinet table. The Government of Nunavut has committed to make Inuktitut its working language by 2020 and to have senior officials speaking Inuktitut by 2008. Attavik is a collaborative project between Pirurvik and Web Networks to support Inuktitut web publishing and content management services.