What italki Learned From A Lesson In An Endangered Language

What italki Learned From A Lesson In An Endangered Language A couple of weeks ago we have decided to show up to our office 2 hours early. through the streets and public transport of shanghai at 6 am is not the first thing that comes to mind that could be described as “fun” to try out a new language class. We fired up the meeting room projector and started our Skype lesson with one of our newest teachers, Ryan Heavy Head. If the name strikes you as unusual, it is because Ryan is a teacher of Blackfoot, an Algonquian language (linguistic family containing many North American heritage languages) of the Blackfoot tribe in Northwestern US and Southwestern Canada. His ancestry includes Blackfoot as well. This was the first group staff class, bringing italki staff and friends together for a rare glimpse of a language, culture, and worldview that may not exist in only one generation. The lecture served as a great introduction not only to the language itself, but to another worldview embedded in the language. In discussions and comments about about preservation of language heritage we often see the sentiment of “why bother?”. There is an almost Darwinian argument made here, that assumes that a language is worth learning or saving based somehow on the number of speakers or it’s “usefulness”. It makes sense, too, as many language learners are motivated by practical reasons: passing tests and advancing careers. Still, we can’t support this argument, not because of a knee-jerk fear of missing out, but because we believe that human experience and knowledge is valuable. The time we spent speaking with Ryan about Niitsipowahsin made it very plain to us just how much information can be embedded in conversation about language.The very structure of morphemes (basic units of meaning) in every word is elegantly descriptive in a way that reveals a fascinating amount of cultural context. The name of the language itself can be broken down into several meaningful parts: Niit “first” or “original”, referring to the Plains Indians traditional way of life before encountering the Europeans. -powahsin “language” Merging the two then creates the name for the “original language” of Blackfoot: Niitsi’powahsin. By this logic we can produce more words, for example, adding the name for the non-blackfoot Europeans: naapi, resulting in the word Naapi’powahsin. Similar logic is applied to other words, with morpheme -itapi meaning “living being” resulting in the following: niitsitapi (first people, the Blackfoot), naa’pitapi (Europeans), matapi (human), maatomaitapitapiiya(a mature, fully developed being; a respectable, kind person). The combinatorial nature of the language makes it very descriptive, and also suggests the internal logic and worldview associated with the language. But, what IS the Beaver Bundle? We delved further into this worldview by discussing the “bundles” sacred objects made of multiple animal hides representing the “treaties” between man and nature, which are further narrated in the oral tradition of the Blackfoot. As a people who have lived in a particular territory, the Blackfoot (or Siksikaitsitapi literally “blackfoot people”) their relationship to the animals, cycles of nature, and social attitudes were reflected in the content of the language and stories, but also in the mechanics and logic of the language. Exploring a new language is always exciting, but this particular case was especially interesting. The rarity of the language made us feel that we had a unique opportunity to experience language-learning. What’s more, we got to experience an endangered and exotic language in a way that was impossible in a traditional classroom setting.  Any large city will have an abundance of schools and courses for learning English, and any number of speakers and willing tutors of widely-known languages. Finding a professional teacher for a language that has only a few thousand native speakers, on the other hand, is a rare moment. Being able to experience Ryan’s lecture while sitting in our Shanghai office really underscored the advantage of online language learning. The potential is there, at our fingertips, to dive deeply and personally into a worldview alien from our own. We are able to gain more than just learning vocabulary or grammar. We are able to access the real carriers of culture and knowledge, someone able to explain to us a perspective onto a new world, a human experience impossible to have with a book or a recording of a language. This is one of the reasons why we are proud of our work, and of our community of teachers and learners. We are able to create a unique, truly human experience and promote understanding and self-reflection. We are creating a way to experience learning inaccessible through more traditional approaches. We hope then, that our community takes up the challenge to learn and explore, and to view language-learning not as a problem to be solved or chore to be done. Instead, we hope that language learning becomes a habit, a way of life, and a lens through which we can understand ourselves and each-other. Ryans Profile can be found here. Ryan’s youtube channel is also a great resource to learn about blackfoot culture and language, and oddly enough, how snake anti-venom is made. For more information about Ryan and Blackfoot language and history, please check out this documentary. If you’d like to see other fascinating initiatives about preserving Blackfoot language and heritage, check out this story about preserving the language through Hip-hop. What italki Learned From A Lesson In An Endangered Language A couple of weeks ago we have decided to show up to our office 2 hours early. through the streets and public transport of shanghai at 6 am is not the first thing that comes to mind that could be described as “fun” to try out a new language class. We fired up the meeting room projector and started our Skype lesson with one of our newest teachers, Ryan Heavy Head. If the name strikes you as unusual, it is because Ryan is a teacher of Blackfoot, an Algonquian language (linguistic family containing many North American heritage languages) of the Blackfoot tribe in Northwestern US and Southwestern Canada. His ancestry includes Blackfoot as well. This was the first group staff class, bringing italki staff and friends together for a rare glimpse of a language, culture, and worldview that may not exist in only one generation. The lecture served as a great introduction not only to the language itself, but to another worldview embedded in the language. In discussions and comments about about preservation of language heritage we often see the sentiment of “why bother?”. There is an almost Darwinian argument made here, that assumes that a language is worth learning or saving based somehow on the number of speakers or it’s “usefulness”. It makes sense, too, as many language learners are motivated by practical reasons: passing tests and advancing careers. Still, we can’t support this argument, not because of a knee-jerk fear of missing out, but because we believe that human experience and knowledge is valuable. The time we spent speaking with Ryan about Niitsipowahsin made it very plain to us just how much information can be embedded in conversation about language.The very structure of morphemes (basic units of meaning) in every word is elegantly descriptive in a way that reveals a fascinating amount of cultural context. The name of the language itself can be broken down into several meaningful parts: Niit “first” or “original”, referring to the Plains Indians traditional way of life before encountering the Europeans. -powahsin “language” Merging the two then creates the name for the “original language” of Blackfoot: Niitsi’powahsin. By this logic we can produce more words, for example, adding the name for the non-blackfoot Europeans: naapi, resulting in the word Naapi’powahsin. Similar logic is applied to other words, with morpheme -itapi meaning “living being” resulting in the following: niitsitapi (first people, the Blackfoot), naa’pitapi (Europeans), matapi (human), maatomaitapitapiiya(a mature, fully developed being; a respectable, kind person). The combinatorial nature of the language makes it very descriptive, and also suggests the internal logic and worldview associated with the language. But, what IS the Beaver Bundle? We delved further into this worldview by discussing the “bundles” sacred objects made of multiple animal hides representing the “treaties” between man and nature, which are further narrated in the oral tradition of the Blackfoot. As a people who have lived in a particular territory, the Blackfoot (or Siksikaitsitapi literally “blackfoot people”) their relationship to the animals, cycles of nature, and social attitudes were reflected in the content of the language and stories, but also in the mechanics and logic of the language. Exploring a new language is always exciting, but this particular case was especially interesting. The rarity of the language made us feel that we had a unique opportunity to experience language-learning. What’s more, we got to experience an endangered and exotic language in a way that was impossible in a traditional classroom setting.  Any large city will have an abundance of schools and courses for learning English, and any number of speakers and willing tutors of widely-known languages. Finding a professional teacher for a language that has only a few thousand native speakers, on the other hand, is a rare moment. Being able to experience Ryan’s lecture while sitting in our Shanghai office really underscored the advantage of online language learning. The potential is there, at our fingertips, to dive deeply and personally into a worldview alien from our own. We are able to gain more than just learning vocabulary or grammar. We are able to access the real carriers of culture and knowledge, someone able to explain to us a perspective onto a new world, a human experience impossible to have with a book or a recording of a language. This is one of the reasons why we are proud of our work, and of our community of teachers and learners. We are able to create a unique, truly human experience and promote understanding and self-reflection. We are creating a way to experience learning inaccessible through more traditional approaches. We hope then, that our community takes up the challenge to learn and explore, and to view language-learning not as a problem to be solved or chore to be done. Instead, we hope that language learning becomes a habit, a way of life, and a lens through which we can understand ourselves and each-other. Ryans Profile can be found here. Ryan’s youtube channel is also a great resource to learn about blackfoot culture and language, and oddly enough, how snake anti-venom is made. For more information about Ryan and Blackfoot language and history, please check out this documentary. If you’d like to see other fascinating initiatives about preserving Blackfoot language and heritage, check out this story about preserving the language through Hip-hop.

The Best Book For Learning English is Not the Self-Help Guide

The Best Book For Learning English is Not the Self-Help GuideIf you're looking for the best book for learning English, the obvious answer is the self-help guide. You see, the greatest number of people who find themselves fluent in English are the people who have received this kind of invaluable advice and instruction at some point in their lives.A lot of folks who seek the perfect English-language education do so because they see the potential they possess as individuals. They might have been gifted by some influential individual or a dream world-famous singer. They have made an effort to be a different person than who they were and when they finish that journey, they see themselves becoming more successful.It is quite common to observe that the most successful American people are probably also among the most tolerant, and they are able to make friends and team up with anybody. Although it might seem that American education is so much better compared to what we have in the country, t here is no doubt that we are still quite poor compared to other countries in the world. Having said that, it's also true that some countries don't offer the same opportunities as those in the US.Unfortunately, many people who wish to pursue further education don't get a chance to attend the best school in the country. This is not because the school itself is bad or isn't good. The problem is simply that the parents and the other adults in the family might think that it's best to send the child to the school that offers the least amount of discipline.Because of this, a lot of people who would have made excellent leaders end up being just ordinary workers instead. Of course, the education they receive does serve them very well in the future. However, it might not be as great as what they might get if they just go and enroll in some mediocre school instead.It's clear that the best book for learning English is the one that will be able to help you learn faster and at the same time help you build yourself up into an acceptable citizen. You see, no matter how much of a good candidate you are to be accepted by a particular institution, you can always improve it by absorbing as much information as possible. In short, you have to know how to learn.By learning how to learn, you'll be able to go and earn a college degree in a couple of years, as opposed to someone who doesn't know anything about the subject. You may end up learning more through the experience.

The Importance of Finding a Chemistry Tutor in Long Island

The Importance of Finding a Chemistry Tutor in Long IslandA person looking for a chemistry tutor in Long Island, New York can get as much or as little information as they want from the Internet. They can look up where and when their tutor will be next and find out whether their local schools are actually offering chemistry tutors to students.These websites are updated with the searches that are made on the search engines by the public. They should be free from hackers and bots so you can be sure that you are getting the best and the most accurate information possible. It is vital that all the information you receive is correct, especially for a company looking to expand into other areas of work and education.When searching for a chemistry tutor in Long Island, New York, there are some things you need to look for. They include how much money you have to pay the tutor. If you have enough money to pay a teacher what you think is necessary, then you can afford to hire a tutor.Schools tha t offer tutoring and training in these subjects tend to be expensive. Therefore, if you do not have enough money, then you will be unable to afford to pay for a teacher that is right for you.When choosing a school that offers tutoring, they should also provide different levels of training depending on your ability and your educational background. For example, if you come from a background that has less chance of success with this subject, then it may be in your best interest to find a school that offers an accelerated approach to teaching. However, there are also schools that offer a more traditional approach to teaching chemistry.If you cannot afford to pay a teacher what you think is necessary, then you should definitely go online and look for a chemistry tutor in Long Island. This is because even though you do not have enough money to pay for the tuition fees, the cost of hiring a tutor ischeaper than buying textbooks and paying for a lesson.Choosing a school for a chemistry tuto r in Long Island is a matter of finding the best and the most affordable option for your needs. So, before you head to your local library or any bookstore, do a little bit of research online and look at the websites of several schools in your area. Remember, you can always visit the website of the school yourself if you find that it does not meet your requirements.