Tanya McEwen and Billy Williams aren't your average students.
They're studying something they most people take for granted — the language of their people.
Gamilaraay, native to northern New South Wales, was nearly extinct a few decades ago, but now thanks to years of restoration efforts, it can be taught to a new generation of students.
Tanya, who's taking part in an intensive short course at Charles Darwin University's Sydney campus, said learning language gives her more integrity as an Aboriginal person.
"We weren't allowed to speak it; the old people weren't allowed to speak it at all," she said.
"Because it [Gamilaraay] was taken away, and it's an ancestor language, it makes me feel proud [to learn it]," Tanya said.
Billy travelled from Brisbane to Sydney to learn Gamilaraay, something he didn't have the opportunity to do when he was younger.
"There's all complex layers to it, but I just didn't have access ... to my identity and my language," he said.
"I've been on an identity journey for a long time now and it was a piece of the puzzle that was missing.
"It's a tangible expression of my identity."
On Australia Day, NSW Governor David Hurley used his address to call on people to learn Aboriginal languages, with 2019 being the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
"How many Australians know the language group of the traditional owners and custodians of the land upon which they live and work?" he asked.
"In our nation it's absolutely critical that we continue to progress our first steps in teaching our Aboriginal and Torres Strait languages in schools and communities.
"This is eminently achievable and desirable not just to revitalise a spoken form but to promote a deeper understanding of culture."
'A fair challenge'
Learning Gamilaraay is about much more than memorising nouns — like any language, it's hard work getting grammar and complex structures down pat.
"We're learning about the different structures in the language," said Tracey Cameron, a Gamilaroi woman and teacher of the course.
"We're learning words of course, but we're also learning how to put those words together in a sentence to communicate with each other."
"It's a bit bittersweet to be honest because I'm a bit older now and trying to learn a new language is a fair challenge," Billy said.
There's a lot of initial interest in the language but not enough uptake of more advanced classes, course coordinator, John Giacon said.
"If you're already a teacher, it's a major job to go and do a course in holiday time when you just want to have a break after a hard year's work."
He wants the government and universities to create jobs and offer scholarships for Indigenous language students.
"A linguist is not going to spend a couple of years learning Gamilaraay unless there's a job there for them, and at the moment there's not a job there for them," Dr Giacon said.
Despite the difficulties, Tanya and Billy want today's young Gamilaroi people to have the opportunities they never had.
"It's only going to get harder for the next generation if we don't grab it and have a crack at it ... I just don't want my kids to not have the chance," Billy said.
