An innovative project is using technology as an ally in the preservation of Brazilian indigenous languages. Called “Class”the application aims to record and teach vocabulary, phrases and stories in the languages of the Bororo (MT) and Makurap (RO) peoples — two languages considered at risk of disappearing.
bilingo montage — Photo: Reproduction
The non-profit initiative brings together Brazilian and German researchersin addition to indigenous teachers and young peoplewho actively participate in collecting and recording words in the villages. The system developer, Gustavo Polettiexplains that the purpose is to place the teaching in the hands of the people themselvesguaranteeing autonomy and cultural preservation.
“We want teachers from the communities themselves to be able to create and distribute learning,” explains Poletti.
🌱 Languages at risk and cultural resistance
Os Makurapwho live in Rondônia, belong to the linguistic family Tuparifrom the trunk Tupiand today they have few speakers — generally, older people. Already the Bororofrom Mato Grosso, call their language Wadarconnected to the trunk Macro-Jaccording to the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA).
Data 2022 Census show that Brazil has 295 indigenous languages catalogedof which 190 are at risk of extinctionaccording to the UNESCO Atlas of Endangered Languages. The country is the second no world with more endangered languages, second only to the United States.
The teacher Heloisa Helena Siqueira Correiayes Federal University of Rondônia (UNIR)highlights the symbolic value of the project:
“These tools show that communities are not, and have never been, frozen in time. They are instruments that dialogue with the ancestral past and strengthen the autonomy of people in the present.”
📱 How the app works
Inspired by platforms like Duolingo e Busuuo BILIONGO offers themed learning dayswith sections on alphabet, family, food and nature. Exercises include:
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Translation of words from Portuguese into the indigenous language;
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Association of sounds and images;
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Assembling sentences;
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Pronunciation practice with artificial intelligencewhich analyzes the user’s speech.
The app will also work offlineallowing use in areas without internet and ensuring that users data is under the control of the villages.
According to the young Jessica Makuraplearning happens naturally and collaboratively:
“When we ask an uncle or grandmother how to say something and record it, we are already learning. The application teaches us as it is being built.”
💬 Learning that comes from the community
In addition to serving as an educational tool, the project encourages rapprochement of young people with their languages of origin. Collecting words, stories and myths strengthens the transmission between generations and returns protagonism to communities.
The linguist Fabrício Gerardifrom the University of Tübingen (Germany), reinforces that Bilingo also includes grammatical features for adults and adaptations for different linguistic contexts — from villages that still speak the language fluently to those where Portuguese is already predominant.
🔎 How the idea was born
The project emerged during the doctorate of Gustavo Poletti already USPinspired by international language revitalization initiatives. In 2024, he teamed up with Fabrício Gerardi and the linguist Carolina Aragonyes UFPBintegrating efforts with the Bororo and Makurap communities.
Currently, development is more advanced among Bororowhile in Rondônia the priority is the Makurap vocabulary record.
“The app is a way of learning and, at the same time, keeping our culture alive”, summarizes Jéssica Makurap.
Source: g1 / Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) / Federal University of Rondônia (UNIR)
✍️ Written by ContilNet
