Word games are a great way to practice using your language and First Peoples Cultural Council (FPCC) is excited to share that Wordle for FirstVoices is now available for B.C. First Nations communities to add to their existing FirstVoices.com language sites. Playing the popular word guessing game in your language is a fun new way to add language to your daily life and activate your vocabulary.

So far nine First Nations communities in B.C. have added Wordle to their language sites.

Here are the public FirstVoices language sites that currently have Wordle games you can try:

c̕išaaʔatḥ

Homalco

Líl̓wat

Nadleh-Stella Whut’enne

Sliammon

Sm’algya̱x

Stz’uminus

Tāłtān

’Uik̓ala

The FirstVoices development team was able to use the open-source Wordle code developed by Aidan Pine, a B.C.-based linguist and software developer, to add the game to FirstVoices community language site dictionaries.

“FPCC has decades of experience supporting Indigenous communities in their language revitalization efforts and so they are a natural partner to house this code and work in collaboration with other communities that want to develop their own version of the game,” says Aidan.

First Nations alphabets are unique, and many include more than 26 letters. Aidan’s newly rendered version of Wordle includes writing systems with more than one character, making them accessible to First Nations alphabets with complex multi-character letters like “kw’ or a:y”.

The FirstVoices Wordle game also includes a keyboard with the unique characters needed so you can type without having to download any additional First Nations language keyboards.

“Integrating a Wordle-style game with language content on FirstVoices is a great example of what can be done when language and technology are combined,” says Bridget Chase, a FirstVoices Development Manager. “We are so excited to see this guessing game format become accessible in Indigenous languages.”

By bringing more learning opportunities like this to First Nations communities, FirstVoices is further supporting the revitalization of First Nations languages in B.C.

Did you know this is the first year of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032? In support of this year’s theme “technology”, FPCC will be sharing stories from those learning, teaching and documenting their First Nations languages through digital tools and technology.

To find out more about FirstVoices, visit: http://www.firstvoices.com