Coronavirus information in Kriol (updated April 13)

  • April 13, 2020

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With the Coronavirus situation getting more critical, having information available in Kriol is vital to ensure that clear and current information reaches everybody, including Kriol-speaking communities.

 

We have found a few sources of information in Kriol and we recommend listening to them or reading them and sharing them with other Kriol speakers where you can. Here is a summary of resource we have found. Scroll further down for more details on each Kriol resource:

 

  1. SecureNT – Short health messages – audio only – Eastside Kriol and Westside Kriol (made in mid-March)
  2. ABC News bulletins in Kriol (audio only – new bulletins most days, made by ABC and Aboriginal Interpreter Service)
  3. Numbulwar video – Coronavirus Information (made in mid-March, by Numbulwar Culture & Media)
  4. Ngukurr poster and video – basic poster and information (made in mid-late March, by Ngukurr Language Centre)
  5. Kununurra Kriol poster (made March 22 by Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring)
  6. Kimberley Kriol health advice and information recordings (audio only, made in late March by Aboriginal Interpreting WA)
  7. Kimberley Kriol videos from Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services (made March 26)
  8. Eastside Kriol video (5 mins) from Northern Land Council (added March 30) also with Westside Kriol version (added April 1)
  9. Posters in Kimberley Kriol from Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (added March 31)
  10. Animated video in Roper Kriol from the Ngukurr Language Centre (released April 1)
  11. Posters in Eastside Kriol by Chips Mackinolty, translated by Meigim Kriol Strongbala (released early April)
  12. Video in Gurindji Kriol by Kalkaringi School (released April 12)

Note on Kriol recordings and translations listed on this page

The dialect of Kriol used in them will often be specific to a particular community or area. It’s a bit like English-speaking Australians hearing news from someone with an American or British accent – you can tell they speak differently, but the content should still be clearly understandable.

Other sources of information

Some Kriol resources are being created on a fairly ad-hoc basis and there is not a central source of official information. For up-to-date English information, visit these sites:
We hope the links to Kriol recordings and resources provided here are useful during a precarious time. We will add more here and on our Facebook and Twitter pages as we discover it. Here are details on the resources listed above and links for each of them too:

 

Kriol resources in more detail

 

    1. SecureNT has a short health message available in both Eastside and Westside Kriol:

 

  1. ABC produces Kriol news bulletins most days of the week (usually Monday to Friday) – see: https://soundcloud.com/darwinabc/sets/kriol. These bulletins provide shortened versions of the days top stories and will include the most recent news on Coronavirus. Each bulletin is posted to Soundcloud and files are downloadable so they can be played locally (on radio, on phones, on computers etc). New bulletins for each day and usually released after around 3pm.

    1. Numbulwar Culture & Media produced a six minute video with current information on Coronavirus (as of March 17, 2020). The video is designed for Numbulwar but most of the information will be useful and understandable to other Kriol-speaking communities. The video is posted below or use this link: https://www.facebook.com/numbulwar/videos/1458946260953877/

    1. Ngukurr Language Centre created a bilingual flyer (March 19) with key information and ways in which communities can protect themselves from spreading the virus. The flyer has been distributed locally and posted on Ngukurr School Facebook page. A few days later, they added a video version which can be viewed via this link or watch it below.

  1. The Language Centre in Kununurra, Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre, produced a flyer in Plain English and Kununurra Kriol and posted it on their Facebook page (shown below). This is extra useful for Kriol speakers in Western Australia and west of Katherine.

    1. Aboriginal Interpreting WA have produced a series of four audio recordings in Kimberley Kriol. There are two short 30 second recordings on Good Hygiene and Stopping The Spread. There are also two longer recordings on staying safe from Coronavirus. One is about Staying Home In Your Community and the other is about Getting Home To Community. The recordings are shown in the playlist below:

  1. Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services released three videos in Kimberley Kriol on March 26:

  1. A detailed video full of information and health messages in Eastside Kriol was released by the Northern Land Council on March 30. On April 1, they added a Westside Kriol version: https://youtu.be/BjiihnfiVnU.  The Northern Land Council YouTube channel also has the video available in other Indigenous languages, including Anindilyawka, Burarra and Pitjantjatjara. Here is the Eastside Kriol video:

  1. Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (AHCWA) produced two posters in Kimberley Kriol (with the help of Aboriginal Interpreting WA, released March 31). One poster is about symptoms of Coronavirus, the other is about keeping communities safe. Also note that the posters are written using the Kimberley Kriol spelling system, which is different from the one used in the NT (and on this website):

  1. Ngukurr Language Centre created an animated video in Roper Kriol with information and key health messages, produced in conjunction with Highway Learning. The video was released on April 1:

  1. Artist and writer Chips Mackinolty produced a series of posters with health messages. With the help of Northern Land Council and AMSANT, the posters are being translated into different language and we helped with translations for Kriol. The full set of posters can be seen here, with further info and translation information. An example is given below:

  1. Kalkaringi School created a 5-minute video in Gurindji Kriol aimed at keeping communities in the area safe from catching and spreading Coronavirus. Gurindji Kriol is different from normal Kriol because it has so much Gurindji in it that Kriol speakers cannot easily understand it. Kriol speakers will be able to hear this difference in the video below. This video will be most useful from communities in the Victoria River District like Kalkaringi, Daguragu, Yarralin and Timber Creek:

 

Update history of this article since first published on March 16.

Update – March 17, 2020

Update – March 19, 2020

Update – March 22, 2020

Update – March 24, 2020

Update – March 30, 2020

Update – April 1, 2020

Update – April 6, 2020

Update – April 13, 2020

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