Go Lingo!, Carbon Media’s exciting new high energy TV game show for kids aged 11 to 12 years old launches on ABC3 on 11 April 2011, hosted by Alannah Ahmat. The show celebrates Australia's Indigenous culture.

“Go Lingo! is a real achievement, it’s like nothing else on television,” said executive producer and managing director of Carbon Media, Wayne Denning. “The show encourages excellence in spelling and grammar but more importantly, it showcases Australia’s first languages and the cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.”

 “We are hoping that all Aussie kids learn a bit about Indigenous history in their area and pick up and use a few words in the language of the traditional owners.

“We also want to give Indigenous kids a go on TV. We rarely see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders on mainstream TV and we wanted to change that.”

About 40 people worked on the production from development through to the studio recording of 50 episodes, each 30 minutes long, recorded by the Carbon Media team in Brisbane in February 2011.

The taping brought together 150 contestants from across south-east Queensland and NSW. About a third of the contestants on Go Lingo! are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. One Indigenous family drove for more than six hours from flood-ravaged St George to Brisbane so that their son could participate in the show.

The show kicks off by profiling Indigenous languages in the ground-breaking segment My Country. In each segment, the audience is taken to a specific area of Australia where they get the chance to learn about the culture of that region and hopefully learn to use a few words from the traditional owners.

“There are over 250 Indigenous languages across Australia, but many Aussie kids have no idea they exist or that some languages are being spoken in communities across Australia today. As producers, we wanted to change that.”

In each episode, kids battle for maximum points in a variety of fun, hi-tech games using the latest in touch screen technology, Wii controllers and big screen displays. Learning more about Indigenous culture is all action and entertainment for the contestants, especially in one of their favourite games, Chuck A, where the kids jump into a pit of letters to spell various words. Other games include shooting digital basketballs in Shoot Out and a skirmish with digital paint balls in Splat all while focusing on spelling and grammar.

“The highlight for us as producers was the talent we discovered in Alannah Ahmat,” said Wayne.

Go Lingo!’s host, 20-year-old Torres Strait Islander Alannah, was selected following a nationwide search of over 100 people in five locations. The Sunshine Coast local was working as a receptionist at a law firm while completing her Bachelor of Journalism at the University of the Sunshine Coast when she auditioned, and had no prior TV experience.

“Her schedule was demanding, she had a lot to learn but Alannah shone and it was fantastic to have her on set every day,” Wayne said. “She’s also got a bubbly, fun personality and the kids just love her. She’s doing a fantastic job.”

Go Lingo! will air on both ABC3 and National Indigenous Television (NITV). It will screen daily on ABC3 at 11.25am from 11 April 2011. To view a clip, click here.