Geek of the Week: Halq’eméylem FirstVoices app for iPhone

Halq’eméylem is one of many B.C. First Nations languages at risk of becoming extinct.

The Sto:lo Nation in the Fraser Valley is harnessing the latest technology in an effort to keep this language alive.

Developed by a provincial Crown corporation called the First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Council, the Halq’eméylem FirstVoices app—available for the iPhone and the iPod Touch—contains hundreds of words and phrases, along with helpful audio recordings and images.

“It’s a free application, so you can carry the dictionary around in the palm of your hand,” Thelma Wenman, coordinator of the Sto:lo Shxweli Halq’eméylem Language Program, which worked on the app, told the Straight.

A FirstVoices app is also available for SENĆOŦEN, which is spoken by First Nations on southern Vancouver Island.

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