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Footy in 17 languages

  • Friday, January 26 2007 @ 06:58 am ACDT
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General News

Many of the great names in Australian Football are not Anglo names consistent with Australia's largest migration contributor, England. A great number of the game's stars have been first, second or third generation Aussies whose recent family tree consist of languages other than English. Players from the past like Alex Jesaulenko and current champs like Anthony Koutoufides have made the sport their own. In the last couple of years the AFL has increasingly encouraged Australia's diverse migrant community to embrace Aussie Rules, as has happened in the past to a large extent without official involvement. A useful tool in this process is a simple introduction to the game in 17 different languages.

The guide explains the basics of the sport, from kicking goals and how to move the ball, through to tackling and how to read the scores. The 17 languages must surely span a large percentage of the world's population. They are:

ENGLISH
GREEK
ITALIAN
SPANISH
CROATIAN
SERBIAN
MACEDONIAN
ARABIC
TURKISH
MANDARIN
CANTONESE
JAPANESE
VIETNAMESE
TAGALOG
SOMALIAN
AMHARIC
DARI

Produced by the AFL and major sponsor NAB, the article and PDF document (requires Adobe) can be viewed at the AFL website:

Article: Australian Football Explained in 17 Languages

Guide (PDF): WELCOME TO THE AFL - Australian Football explained in 17 languages - part 1

Guide (PDF): WELCOME TO THE AFL - Australian Football explained in 17 languages - part 2