Iwi Faul Gu Work (Walk not Work!)

NORFOLK LAENGWIJ BOOK AVAILABLE FREE ON WORLDWIDE WEB ... by Gaye Evans
“Iwi Faul gu work”
Earlier this year Norfolk Island had a visit from Professor Kate Burridge of Monash University. Professor Burridge is a linguist and during her visit she spoke with local Norf’k Laengwij Consultant Gaye Evans. On Kate’s return to Melbourne she put Professor John Hajek in touch with Gaye to work on a Norf’k Laengwij project. John works at the Research Unit for Multilingualism & Cross-Cultural Communication at the University of Melbourne (RUMACCC).



As part of a major early literacy initiative for children around the world, RUMACCC is proud to have launched a series of early readers in many languages. These readers are designed to help children enjoy reading in their mother tongue so that they are better able to learn to read and write in the official languages of their home countries. They preserve, in print, the world’s linguistic and cultural diversity whilst also showing parents and educators how easy it is to prepare enjoyable reading materials ~ starting with pencil and paper and then with a little help from the computer.

The Norf’k project started with the wellknown traditional folk story from South Sulawesi “Chicken Little goes for a walk”. The story has been retold by Murti Bunanta with drawings by Katrina Langford and it is adapted and translated in the Norf’k Laengwij by Gaye Evans and John Hajek into “Iwi Faul gu work”.


Gaye says that this is an exciting project for the Norf’k Laengwij” as these books can be downloaded for free ~ in either colour or black and white, so that children can colour them in themselves ~ from the website http://rumaccc.unimelb.edu.au/reading/index.html”. Gaye believes that “Iwi Faul gu work” is Norfolk Island’s first ebook in the Norf’k Laengwij