The Linguist

RONNIE

I carve Boab tree seeds and I paint bees and dot paintings. Merci beaucoup. I speak French. I used to be an interpreter at the prison. Teri makassi.

Teri makassi

Selamat pagi Nama saya Ronnie. Say apaka unda

Nama saya Tanya

Bagus

Bagus sekali! How did you learn all this?

Just picked it up. First of all I started with satu, dewa, tiga, empta, lima, enam, duju, pulu.

I’m Walmatjarri from the Great Sandy Desert

How did you learn Indonesian?

From my inmates. They were fishermen. Arrested in Australian waters.

Au revoir.