Anglophones who want to learn the Inuit language can now do so with a computer, mouse and speakers, thanks to a newly launched learning website that lets learners hear the language out loud.

Tusaalanga.ca, which was launched Friday, offers Inuktitut grammar and conversation lessons, thousands of sound files and a glossary of more than 600 terms. The lessons, which come with sound files, show learners how to engage in different kinds of conversation, from exchanging basic greetings to describing one's workplace, and even explaining how one's hunting trip went.

Learners using Tusaalanga.ca can click on Inuktitut words in the glossary to hear how they are pronounced.
(CBC)

The term tusaalanga means "let me hear it" in Inuktitut.

Originally developed to train Nunavut's deputy ministers and other senior government staff, the lessons and assignments on the site have now been made available worldwide.

"With any new language you have to, first of all, be able to hear how it sounds in your own head," said Heather Daley, a Nunavut government employee taking Inuktitut language courses at the Pirurvik Centre in Iqaluit, which created the website.

Speaking in Inuktitut, Pirurvik president and co-founder Leena Evic said the term tusaalanga seemed like a good name for the website because learners can hear Inuktitut words pronounced properly.

"That's really key for learners to get the right pronunciation down right from the beginning and the rhythm that goes along in conversational Inuktitut," added Chris Douglas, who works at the centre.

Pirurvik co-founder Gavin Nesbitt said the site took about one year to build. "[P]art of that was because we were running a program and developing the site as we went," he explained. "But it was a choice not for publishing books. The choice was to get it all online. It has a wider accessibility."

Evic added that while there's no substitute for face-to-face learning, Tusaalanga.ca can still be a valuable resource to those who want to speak Inuktitut, as well as enhance in-class learning.

"I am really happy," she said. "We want Inuktitut to be learned by anyone, anywhere."

The Nunavut government has committed to making Inuktitut its working language by 2020, with the goal of having its senior officials speaking it by 2008.