- This topic has 9 voices and 26 replies.
-
Posts
-
I have already started the Cherokee (Tsalagi) online classes a couple of years ago and still I’m still a “Babe in the woods” learning Tsalagi, but I look with great anticipation when I can incorporate Tutelo/Saponi in my vocabulary as well. GREAT WORK!!!!!!!
I’ve pondered taking one of those online Cherokee courses one of these days, but I’m not that computer savy, and my internet connection is about as speedy as a glacier.
Slow connection would probably not be fun. Got a pretty good connection speed, but the class uses up all my computer’s resources, which sometimes ends with a crash. They have video, chat, and slides going all at the same time. But it is wonderful to hear words spoken by someone who learned them from mom and dad.
Lakota lakotiya is good. I did it for little while. You need to have Yahoo messenger installed. The classes are free, there are several a day, all done verbaly on Yahoo messenger. Great for hearing Siouan pronunciation. She talks alot of grammar, which is not the way I take in language. I think I need something like the Rosetta stone approach, where you see the thing and hear the word, that kind of thing. I deal with language in a more intuitive way. Still don’t know English parts of speech, can’t retain that stuff, but grasp what sounds right and what doesn’t by some other mechanism.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lakotiya/
Oddly enough, Lakota seems more natural for me. I’m not sure why but, Cherokee/Tsalagi seems to be harder to flow out of my face.
There’s different ways adults learn language, some prefer to learn by listening and using it, others prefer analyzing the grammar. Understanding grammar takes a lot of analytical and logical, even mathematical thinking. Little kids love grammar and suck it up like a sponge, but adults usually hate it and just want to memorize vocabulary and phrases. The really hard part for adults is internalizing the grammar, so that the words flow naturally.
I’m the kind of person that could learn how to read Shakespeare in another language, but not be able to order a cup of coffee. And I can study a language for years, but if I’m not forced to use it, I won’t learn how to speak or understand spoken words. But put me in a situation were everyone speaks it, I’ll learn real quick. I remember things best when its spoken spontaneously, not as a planned lesson.
That’s the problem with learning native languages, rarely is there enough of a community of native speakers to practice with. So I talk to my cat, have mock conversations with myself, and try describing things like a doorknob or computer. If you can describe in detail something like a doorknob in another language, you’re probably fairly fluent.
My sister-in-law, age 78, is named Euretha. Her mother, Rose Lee Haggard, most likely 1/4 Blackfoot or?, told her that her name means flower. Does this relate to any of the native languages mentioned here?
I found something on the internet that said Euretha is a spelling variation of Reuel, a Biblical name- “Reu” ” el” meaning Friend of God. Perhaps she had a nickname that meant flower.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
