Language Services

ARDS was engaged to assist in developing some water education signage for a remote community in East Arnhem Land. Hannah [Linguist] and Yinin [Language Consultant] were fantastic to work with, providing a much deeper insight into the purpose of the signage and the best way to convey the message in language rather than just straight translation. Their input was provided in a timely manner and within budget. We will be engaging ARDS in the future and can recommend their services.
Elana Balderstone - Demand Management Project Officer, Power and Water Corporation

Facilitate understanding

A majority of Indigenous people in the NT are multilingual, and English is rarely their first language. It is difficult for people on both sides of the language barriers to clearly communicate and understand important messages. This is especially true in the fields of health, law, economics, governance, or community services.

Our language services

We can help you to communicate effectively in the following ways:

We partner with organisations and language communities to produce language resources including specialist dictionaries.
We provide thorough translation services to a wide range of clients including filmmakers, corporations and service providers, for written and audio-visual resources.
We develop Plain English versions of resources to facilitate clearer English-based communication and easier translation into multiple Indigenous languages.
We provide language learning resources for non-Indigenous people wishing to learn Indigenous languages.

Language Services

Our expertise

A dedicated team of professional linguists and Indigenous language workers.
We maintain and grow extensive databases of Indigenous words from numerous clan languages, largely from northeast Arnhem Land. We have decades of experience in language documentation and the preservation of endangered languages.
Partnerships with specialists from relevant fields for creating dictionaries and other language resources (e.g. health, law, etc)
Advocacy for the recognition and use of Indigenous languages in contemporary Australian society, and membership of the Western and Northern Aboriginal Languages Alliance (Wanala)
Provision of ongoing professional development Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff in linguistics and literacy through workshops and mentoring.
Asserting and attributing Indigenous ownership of Indigenous cultural and linguistic Intellectual Property in line with emerging protocols in all fields: film, music, digital data, etc.
Monitoring and participation in ongoing linguistic research to understand more about Australia’s first languages.