Week 10 Final Assessment

Final Assessment:  It is hard to believe that Week 10 has arrived!  Although this is a milestone, it is not the end of this language-learning odyssey.  After taking some time off for summer travel, I will return and set some new goals.  I feel good about the progress I made over the past ten weeks in reaching the goals that I set at the beginning of this course.  My language-learning did slow down over the past two weeks due to entertaining guests and final school projects.  Perhaps, I subconsciously gave myself permission to make a little room for these other things because I knew that I had met most of my objectives.  Writing my own poem was the ‘big’ task still hanging over my head this week.  Here is my final assessment checklist:  

	Learning Goals Checklist for Isthmus Zapotec		Met by June 3, 2013
	Primary Objectives	yes	no/level attained
1	Recite 20 lines of poetry	X
2	Know and be able to orally produce all phonemes		pretty close
3	Recognize basic grammatical features (i.e., word order; identify verbs, nouns, objects, articles, preps)	X
4	Write one original poem	X
	Secondary Objectives	yes	no/level attained
1	Learn origins of Zapotec language and people	X
2	Learn history of IZ language and people	X
3	Learn origins of literary traditions and role of literature and poetry in IZ culture and society		Still have more questions
4	Learn about current IZ issues		Learned more about other Zapotec current issues
	Wishful-Thinking Objective	yes	no/level attained
1	Meet a native IZ speaker		Still looking; met goal of meeting Shook and other Zapotec speakers

Concerning Primary Objectives:  I apologize that I am not going to go into detail about the goals attained in this checklist at this time.  My blog posts since my midterm progress report reveal in more detail to what degree I have met these objectives.  In terms of furthering my primary objectives, I will continue to work through the Pickett and Black grammar book.  I am nearly halfway through now.  I think I will need to read the whole book two or three times to become very familiar with the grammatical concepts.  I believe the best way to practice newly learned grammar is through reading and writing in the language.   I plan to continue reading IZ poetry and literature for this practice, and write my own poems.  My speaking opportunities will be limited to reciting poetry for now. 

Concerning Secondary Objectives:  Because of the vast subject matter, my secondary objectives were ‘in general’ and not very specific.  I was looking to familiarize myself with these topics, rather than memorize large chunks of information.  There is still much that I want to learn about the Binnizá.

Further Research:  My interviews with native speakers of other Zapotec languages gave me privileged insight into the language issues of the indigenous people of Oaxaca.  I feel that these people need their voices heard, and as a staff member told me at the literacy center where I conducted some of the interviews, “They are ready to talk.”  I have interpreted this statement to mean that they no longer want to feel ashamed of their indigenous heritage and that they are ready to defend and preserve it, even while living outside of their homeland.  Speakers of indigenous languages in Mexico are discriminated against, and are oftentimes called “backwards.”  Because of this, when outside of their home community, indigenous people may deny their native tongue.  Join me in advocating for the respect and preservation of indigenous languages.    

Week 10 My Own Poem

Week 10

Word of the Week: dede ca ‘the end’

(Actually, it is just the beginning!)

My own poem:  I could not make my final assessment without first writing my own poem.  This was not easy.  I struggled with writing a personal poem, but found that I need a lot more study time before I can translate my personal thoughts into Isthmus Zapotec.  I was frustrated with my task to write a poem with my limited language skills, but was able to accomplish this when I just started to “play around” with it and not take it too seriously.  I am not sure if my verb conjugations are spelled correctly, but this is what I came up with. 

Ba’du’ ne Xtibe Bi’cu’                                               A Boy and His Dog

Neegue la, guziibe ba’du’ ca bi’cu’ yaase’.                Yesterday, the boy bought a black dog.

Laabe nadxiibe xtibe bi’cu nacubi                              He loves his new dog

ne laame nadxiime xtime ba’du’ nacubi.                    and the dog loves his new boy.

Yannadxí riguitecabe cue’ fuera.                                Today they played together outside.

Padxí rusidxagacabe la,                                              When they were tired,

rasicabe lu baca’nda’ ca xti yaga ngola.                      they slept in the shade of a big tree.

Padxí zacanda la,                                                        At sundown,

cue’ la,                                                                         together,

ribicabe                                                                        they went home

ne rugazecabe ne zoocabe.                                          and bathed and ate.

Guixí zazibe ba’du’ ca xtibe bi’cu’                             Tomorrow the boy will buy for his dog

yanni nacubi sicarú                                                      a beautiful new collar

ne zusiga’de’ lá laame.                                                and give him a name.

I would love some feedback from anyone familiar with this language.  Please, tell me if what I have written in IZ does not make sense or if there are spelling errors.  As I continue to study the language, I will revisit this poem and try to improve it as I learn more.

Grammar Book versus Online Learning

Grammar book versus online course:  Pickett and Black’s Gramática Popular del Zapoteco del Istmo (http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/zapoteca/istmo/G023b-GramaticaZapIstmo-zai.pdf) has become my primary language-learning resource since completing the Memrise course.  I regret that I did not use this resource much earlier on.  (As I mentioned earlier, I delayed using this source because I wanted a printed version of the 135 page electronic book, but did not want to print that many pages.  One might say to just print what you need, but I felt that I would need all of it and wanted to be able to make notes on the pages and use tags to mark the material that I thought I might reference frequently.)  Memrise inadvertently became my daily language-learning source.  It was easy to be drawn in to because it is fun, visual and auditory, and gives instant feedback and learning gratification.  It was also easy to develop a habit of doing daily because it did not require any preparation and I never had to be in the ‘mood’ to do it.  In fact, I often used it to get me in the mood for language study.  The grammar book, however, (obviously) has a much more thorough description of the grammar, also in an easy to follow way.  The book has a lot of IZ vocabulary that I can add to my word bank, and I can observe many of these words used in example sentences.  Some of the grammar examples use colloquial expressions that expose the reader to everyday spoken language.  I am not going to go into all the details of what I have learned through this resource now, but one of the most interesting language features I learned was the number system.  After 1 through 10, numbers are added or multiplied to equate the desired amount.  This method of expressing numbers seems to me like verbalizing large numbers in this language developed in later times.  In summary, I believe I would be further along in my language learning today if I had incorporated reading this book in addition to using Memrise.  I am already comparing grammatical features that I have learned in both for consistency, which is another great way to learn through verification.  Sometimes I think that I have found a mistake in the grammar book based on what I learned in Memrise; but after consulting my notes, I have found that there are subtle differences in use that make the difference.  Compared with a grammar book, Memrise might seem like it was just fun and games, and perhaps not serious language learning.  On the contrary, the online course was able to offer what a book cannot, which is audio samples of the language, songs, and recited poetry.  The online learning is more interactive and engaging than a book.  But I would not say one is better than the other, just different.       

After thought:  I was just thinking that it may seem to the reader of this blog that it is a contradiction that I will not use an electronic grammar book but will use an online language course daily with no apprehension.  These learning tools in my mind are in different categories of use.  And actually, I may not have mentioned that I have written everything I have learned from Memrise into my notebook so that I can reference it at will.  Typically, I am a book learner and like the tactile control I have over materials on paper.  Materials that I plan to reference while engaged in other learning activities are more convenient for me in print. 

Week 9 Memory strategy

Creating ‘mems’ for difficult to remember words:  Although I have completed the Memrise course, I still try to spend a few minutes a day reviewing the vocabulary and grammar I learned by ‘watering my plants.’  I have created pictures or “mems” for some of the words that I still have trouble remembering.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well this technique helps to create a “memory” of difficult words.  A ‘difficult’ word for me is one that I cannot create my own mnemonic device for.  The process of selecting an image from the Internet and adding a catchy text helps me to ‘own’ the vocabulary.  I just created a ‘mem’ today to help me remember the present tense, 3^rd person verb rizíˈ ‘buy’ and its past tense, 1^st person form guzieeˈ.  To create a mem, I try to think of what the word sounds like in English and if there is an image to portray that.  I also try to think of a way to incorporate the “sounds like” tool with the actual meaning of the IZ word. So, rizíˈ sounds like ‘ritzy’ and guzieeˈ sounds a little like ‘Gucci.’  (It’s not always a perfect match, but better than nothing.)  Since the verb means ‘buy,’ I can imagine shopping at a ‘Gucci’ store in the ‘ritzy’ part of town.  I looked up images of Gucci stores and selected the one below and added a text that reads, “Tourists buy Gucci in the ritzy part of town.”  This ‘mem’ will now be shown on the course site to help others learn the word as well.

   

Tourists buy Gucci in the ritzy part of town.

Week 9 Speaking and Writing

Week 9

Word of the Week: nuuni gande ca ‘it’s perfect’

(I finally discovered some colloquial expressions in my should-have-read-sooner grammar book.  This expression literally means ‘this thing is the twenty,’ like saying it’s ‘swell’ or ‘the bomb.’) 

Speaking:  The chapters in Achieving Success in Second Language Acquisition (Leaver et al, 2005) and Lessons from Good Language Learners (Griffiths, 2008) on “Speaking” address strategies that are important for most language-learning endeavors.  However, as I stated in my ISP in Week 1, I do not expect to have developed conversational skills in Isthmus Zapotec through my learning strategy.  I knew when I embarked upon learning this language that my chances of engaging in a conversion with a native IZ speaker would be slim.  However, as I have spent considerable time learning to read the language and recite IZ poetry, I have felt a little guilty about not knowing some of the most basic expressions and exchanges in this language.  I was curious how to say “thank you” in IZ one day, but could not find any form of the word ‘thanks’ in my IZ dictionary.  (I can say “I love you,” Naa nadxie’ lii!)  A little embarrassing, I do not even know how to say “hello” and “goodbye.”  In case someone asks me for something ‘basic,’ I memorized counting to ten.  I have been relying on my memorized poetry as my ‘rehearsed material’ needed for a potential interaction with a native speaker, but a “hello” would be a nice opener. 

Strategies for speaking:  When learning a language in which one anticipates contact with native speakers, it is important to prepare in advance for face-to-face interactions (Griffiths, 2008).  One should learn useful vocabulary and expressions commonly used in communicative situations, including word families or categories of vocabulary (i.e. travel, sports, shopping).  It is also important to have strategies for learning and using functional grammar in order to ask question, make a request, and provide information.  The most common types of oral communication are functional transactions, informal conversations, interviews (formal conversations), and formal presentations (Leaver et al, 2005).  As a beginning level speaker, functional transactions may be the easiest to learn since they are the most predictable form of communication.  This could include knowing how to order food in a restaurant, make a purchase in a market, or use a taxi service.  Greetings could be a part of any transaction, or a part of any form of communication for that matter.  A beginner language-learner should seek out interactions with native speakers, so planning for an informal conversation would lessen the anxiety of making a fool of one’s self or of having nothing to say.  Important strategies would include learning to simplify the language, memorizing something that you can anticipate talking about (i.e. school, family, work), learning how to ask questions to keep a conversation going and the other person talking, and learning how to ignore mistakes that do not appear to interfere with meaning (Leaver et al, 2005).  The strategies recommended for formal conversations and presentations are for the more advanced learner; although advice such as prepare in advance, be ready, and over practice is good for all speakers in any language.             

Writing:  A beginning language learner may have the opportunity to interact with a native speaker through informal written communication.  In such a case, writing strategies should be utilized.  If the learner is using handwritten correspondence, it is important to learn the stylistic differences between his own writing and that of the native writer (Leaver et al, 2005).  Penmanship can affect meaning and legibility for the reader.  (For me, a European ‘1’ looks like the number ‘7.’  When I address mail to friends in Europe, I try to write the number ‘1’ their way so their postman can read it.) A pen-pal or ‘e-pal’ can be a great resource for a learner to observe the colloquial use of the language.  Written communication could also provide the learner with more opportunity to receive corrective feedback from the native speaker.  A learner may find examples of casual writing as a model through diary-like novels.  Reading weblogs in the target language may be another good source of authentic casual written language.  For language learners who plan on continuing their studies in the target language, it would be important for them to strengthen their formal or academic writing skills.  Typically, communicative language-learning courses do not teach writing for the sake of writing.  A good strategy for learning how to use formal writing without the help of a teacher is to look at authentic text.  Even native speakers use this strategy for themselves.  I have done this when new on a job in the situation of having to produce a professional correspondence.  I have referenced files for letters or notices written by more experience employees and used these as a model for my own writing.  As a college student, I observe the structure of academic journals and the style of writing as examples of what a research paper should look like.   According to Griffiths (2008), the most important writing strategy is reading; we learn to write by reading.  When reading in the target language, learners can pick up new vocabulary and see it used in context.  They can observe the use of grammar and form, and notice the structure of certain genres of writing.  Reading about a relevant topic before writing can also help provide the learner with ideas to write about.

A Self-Directed Learner

A self-directed learner:  This learning experience has shown me that I can be a much more effective self-directed learner.  My Hebrew learning has involved a half-hazard attempt of self-directed or autonomous learning over the past five years.  (I have had a wonderful tutor, but little accountability nor sense of urgency, and no set goals.)  I have also made attempts at teaching myself Portuguese with some success many years ago.  I have also used independent study for learning Spanish at times when I was not engaged in formal instruction.  I know, however, that I would have had much greater success in these endeavors if I had used an Independent Study Plan as I have done with Isthmus Zapotec.  Goal setting and planning combined with personal accountability is the recipe for greater language-learning success.  This experience has led me to believe that it may be possible for me to reach at least a low level of fluency in any language without having to take classes if I dedicated the time and implement a study plan.  I intend to test this theory with Spanish, since this is the language that I have the most opportunity to use with native speakers and holds the most benefit to me, therefore worth the considerable time investment.  Perhaps I will even blog about it.          

  

Future Plans for Language Learning

Future plans for language learning:  I did not know how I would feel about continuing with Isthmus Zapotec at the end of this ‘language-learning odyssey’ when I first began.  I feel now that I have an investment in the language and do not want to stop at “Week 10.”  My investment is not just the time and effort put into learning the language, but it is in the Zapotec people that I have spoken with and in the IZ poetry that I have developed affection for.  My investment is in meeting David Shook and being drawn into a community of poets.  I don’t want to let go of this.  Studying Isthmus Zapotec has also reignited my interest in continuing to learn Spanish.  Much of my IZ learning has been in Spanish, therefore continuing to learn IZ would be made easier with increased Spanish skills.  Furthermore, improving my Spanish skills will help me to communicate with the Zapotec community in Los Angeles, since most of them speak Spanish as well.  Ultimately, Spanish will help me as an ESL teacher working with the Hispanic and indigenous communities in Los Angeles.

Motivation: Current status

Motivation:  At this time at the end of Week 8, I am struggling with my motivation to put in the language-learning time that I need to reach my final goals.  The process of writing a term paper based on this learning experience is strongly competing for my time and mental activity.  I feel very conflicted about this because I want to prove to myself that I do have the ability to be a self-directed learner and be accountable to my self-made goals.  I also found that my research into the Zapotec people and language is a separate project in its own.  Unfortunately, this side project may have to be put on the backburner for now.  I am also highly distracted mentally by an upcoming trip to Asia.  I want to learn a little Japanese and Korean to be able to handle very basic interactions and travel needs.  I don’t even know how to ask for the restroom in these languages.  This could be an embarrassing problem.  I just began using the Pimsleur Quick & Simple Korean, but it takes time! (And by the way, it’s not quick or simple.  I have to listen to the lessons over and over again because I guess I’m not a “good language learner.”  I am being a little sarcastic.)  I will also mention that I have continued with my once a week Hebrew lesson during this entire ‘odyssey.’  I plan to create an ISP for Hebrew learning in the near future.  Over the past several weeks, I noticed an increase in my motivation and efforts in learning Hebrew.  I believe that my mind has been more receptive to all language learning since I began using an ISP and increasing my awareness of the learning process.  I was also inspired to develop more discipline in prioritizing Hebrew study time.  Nonetheless, this week, I have lost my motivation for anything that I don’t need to do right now; and unfortunately, that includes Hebrew.  I cannot justify the time.  I almost resent my personal obligation towards it at the moment.  I will continue my lessons for the next couple of weeks for maintenance, but will reserve all my study time for Isthmus Zapotec, Korean, and Japanese.  (Good thing I decided against including China into this trip as well!) 

Assessment

Assessment:  Although I do not assess myself formally, I have been able to measure my progress in a variety of ways.  The online course Memrise was a good way of assessing what I was learning in the program because it quizzed me on the material I was learning.  Even though I have completed the course, I still attempt to visit the site regularly to “water my plants” (the metaphor used for the daily vocabulary quizzes that ensure retention of the material).  I receive an email message from Memrise everyday that reminds me to do this.  Another way of assessing my progress was through my memorized IZ poetry.  I periodically record myself reciting or reading the poems to see if my pronunciation and speed has improved.  I listen to older recordings of myself for comparison.  It is gratifying to hear the difference and improvement.  Perhaps the best way to assess my progress is through reading.  Although I have plenty of poetry sources to read, I thought it would be a good idea to try to read from a more traditional literary format.  Poetry is a creative use of language and sometimes breaks the ‘rules.’  I have begun trying to read from an IZ book that I recently purchased at the Léa L.A. book fair last week.  It is a version by Natalia Toledo of the classic tale called Didxaguca’ sti’ Lexu ne Gueu’ ‘Story of the Rabbit and the Coyote.’  I am not sure that I know enough words to say that I am actually reading yet.  I wrote down the words of the first paragraph in two columns, a column of the words I understood and a column of words I did not know or was unsure of.  I counted the words in each list and found that I only knew fifty percent of the words in the paragraph.  That sounds like a lot, but most of these words were pronouns, articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.  I understood only a handful of content words.  I was excited to be able to almost read a whole sentence at first glance, “Yanna xti’ ca diidxa jma sicarú…” My translation is ‘Now your most beautiful words…”  I placed most of the verbs in the ‘unknown’ column because I did not know the root words.  I could identify the aspect and pronoun/subject suffix at the end of the verbs, but this is not enough.  Like the poetry I have been reading, the Spanish translation of the book is not literal; therefore, I cannot rely on it completely for determining the IZ meaning.  Nevertheless, this assessment has shown me that I need a lot more vocabulary as well as grammar knowledge to read.  I have less than two weeks to reach a beginning level in reading.  I am concerned about reaching this goal.           

Time commitment

Checking in with my ISP and time commitment: My Midterm Progress Report http://jessicabruin.blogspot.com/2013/05/midterm-progress-report.html assessed my progress towards meeting my objectives, but did not reveal whether or not I was following through in other areas of my ISP.  The most important element of this ISP is my time commitment.  The best plan in the world is useless without taking action, and action must occur repeatedly for any progress to be made.  Week 1 ISP blog, Time:  Minimum 10 hours/week of study and research that meets objectives; not including additional course readings and time spent journaling.  I had to decide how much time was minimally needed to make reasonable progress towards meeting my objectives.  I initially thought that a minimum of 20 hours would be needed, but after factoring in the time required for other study activities and life, I felt that I needed to be more reasonable with myself.  Even though I reduced this ideal by half, in the first few weeks of study, I found this ‘reasonable’ time commitment to be challenging.  It was not until Week 4 that I felt comfortable with my new learning routine.  In addition, I narrowed the activities of the minimum ten-hour requirement to language learning activities only.  Once I began my studies, I felt that the most important tasks were those spent in actual language learning, and that I needed to be very disciplined about dedicating time and effort towards these activities.  These activities are also the most difficult and tedious, being the most likely to be procrastinated or put at the bottom of the project to-do list.  (Watching You Tube videos about Juchitán culture is much more fun!)  I did not make a minimum time requirement for the other activities involved in this project because I was not worried about doing enough of other things.  I also knew that the language-learning time requirement would prompt other learning activities.

Time management: The most difficult aspect of this endeavor towards self-directed language learning was making the time commitment.  I recall complaining a lot during the first three weeks of this project about feeling pulled from my studies by family and other personal obligations.  One could ask then, how have I gotten this far through college if I have been so conflicted with home life and college life?  The consequences of not succeeding with traditional college coursework make tuning out the rest of the world much easier to do.  I will admit that this project is unique because I am accountable only to myself.  There is no Isthmus Zapotec homework due in class each week (aside from a weekly blog report), there are no IZ quizzes, midterm, or final exam.  I will not receive a poor grade because I did not meet my ISP objectives.  I do not even have other classmates learning this language to compete with or be motivated to keep up with.  Perhaps worst of all, I have selected a language that has virtually no native speakers in California.  I cannot really use this language with anyone at this time in my life.  So how can I be disciplined enough to make difficult personal sacrifices to prioritize the time to learn Isthmus Zapotec?  I had to create a system for personal accountability that would give me discipline, thus maintaining my motivation to learn.  I trained myself to keep a log of the time I spend learning.  This habit began to develop in Week 2 when I took my first steps towards language learning.  I knew that I was going to be blogging about my progress, so I began to write down every learning activity I engaged in.  On my second language-learning day, I thought it would be a good idea to include the time of these activities; not just how much time, but the hour of day. This was important to me because I was trying to decide what time of day was the best for me to study.  I also began to jot down in my notebook the time I did other activities because I was concerned about how I spent my non-study time.  By Week 3, I decided I needed an additional way to track my study time because the pages of my notebook were filled with note-taking and language learning and was not an easy way to see how well I was meeting my time commitment.  I purchased a weekly planner to summarize my learning activities and keep track of my weekly time investment.  Once or twice a week, I transfer salient information from my notebook into my planner.  To help motivate me to keep my planner updated, I told myself that this is part of the learning process and that it ‘counts’ towards time spent on the project.  I have two weekly tallies; the first is of the total time spent on the project, which includes research and cultural learning.  I then add up the time spent on just language-learning activities, such as learning grammar and vocabulary or memorizing a poem.  I receive motivating feedback from easily observing this data in my planner.  This planner has become my strongest study-time motivator.  All of my good intentions and language-learning desires can fade with fatigue, family emergencies, or an invitation to a special event.  But as each day comes to a close, I visualize updating my planner and if I will have anything to record for the day.  If I have not, I do not give myself permission to go to bed until I have done some language learning.  As much as I dislike staying up late, I have fallen into the habit of working at late hours because I have no distractions.       

Study-time totals:  The log of my study time is not always one-hundred-percent accurate, but is always a good estimate of the time I have invested in learning activities.  I have generally underestimated the time whenever in doubt.  Noting my minimum effort tells me much more than creating a wishful effort.  Here are my tallies:  Week 2, time working on whole project 17 hours/actual language learning 3-4 hours; Week 3, 42(crazy amount of time spent transcribing interview)/10+ hours; Week 4, 26.5/12 hours; Week 5, 25/16 hours; Week 6, 18/9 hours; Week 7 28/10 hours; Week 8, 42/8.75 hours (increased hours for research).       

Response to previous post: No formal 'you'

No formal ‘you’ after all:  Since Villalteco Zapotec has a formal ‘you’ (the usted in Spanish), I suspected that Isthmus Zapotec did, as well.  It does not.  I just read in Gramática Popular del Zapoteco del Istmo (Pickett & Black, 2001), “No hay diferencia entre usted y tú” (p. 28, http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/zapoteca/istmo/G023b-GramaticaZapIstmo-zai.pdf). The singular 'you' in IZ is lii.

Week 8 Zapotec Interviews

Interview with other Zapotec native speakers:  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to interview three more Oaxacan native-Zapotec speakers.  My first interview in April was with three high school students http://jessicabruin.blogspot.com/2013/04/week-3-interview.html.  Although I used the same interview questions for all, the responses were different.  I believe this to be so because of the age difference.  The interview yesterday was with adults; one man and woman over fifty years and one woman between twenty and thirty years.  These adults are students at an ESL/Literacy school in the Pico Union area of Los Angleles.  Like the students in the previous interview, these students only identify their language as “zapoteco.”  They did not distinguish the linguistic region.  Unfortunately, I neglected to bring along my maps, so I was not able to have them show me where in Oaxaca they are from, which would enable me to identify their language variety.  I will add to this blog when I locate their hometowns and language region.  At this time, I believe these students speak Valley Zapotec.  Each of them said that their language was a little different from the other, but were mutually intelligible; therefore, they each potentially speak a different dialect of Valley Zapotec.  I was very excited, though, because they were able to note similarities between their language and Isthmus Zapotec.  For instance, nis and nisa ‘water’ are almost the same.  The male student noted that when nis is used in a sentence, it does become nisa, but alone it is just nis.  Tree in the students’ language is yag and in IZ is yaga.  Yo’do their language is ‘church’ and in IZ is yu’du, and ‘mass’ is misa and mixa’ in IZ. 

Zapotec pragmatics:  There were pronoun similarities as well.  I learned that there is a formal “you” (le) like in Spanish.  I suspect that this would be true for Isthmus Zapotec as well.  I have not yet seen this distinction in my grammar resources.  The formal “you” is used when speaking with one’s boss or important people.  I asked about nonverbal gestures.  Are there any gestures that are unique to Zapotec?  After running through a few gesture scenarios, the answer was “no.”  Mexican Spanish and Zapotec speakers use the same body language, according to my sources.  I will continue this blog entry a little later, as I have more to share.  

Wrong about interviewees' language region:  After researching the towns of the interviewees, I discovered that they are all from the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca.  (Please view the maps from http://jessicabruin.blogspot.com/2013/04/map-of-oaxaca-mexico.html).  Their towns are located in the Villa Alta District, which on the language map http://jessicabruin.blogspot.com/2013/04/language-maps.html is the region of Villalteco Zapotec language.  These interviewees do not speak Valley Zapotec, as did the high school interviewees in my first interview.  However, the students from both interviews have the same word for ‘water,’ nis.  I think that this word has not changed much amongst Zapotec speakers from different regions because it is such a commonly used word. 

Sociolinguistic issues:  Unlike the high school Zapotec speakers, these adults were very concerned about preserving their language.  They all shared about the problem of the younger generation not being able to speak to the older generation.  A great concern is of the young people who live in the United States that are unable to speak to their grandparents when they visit the family in Oaxaca.  The older woman I interviewed said that she is trying to teach her grandson Zapotec.  He can understand her, but does not yet speak back to his grandmother in Zapotec.  The young woman has a five-year old daughter who is learning to speak Zapotec.  It is very important to this young mother that her daughter speaks the language so she can communicate with relatives.  The male interviewee is currently working with an organization that is promoting a unified writing system for their language.  He says that many Zapotec speakers believe that putting their language in writing will preserve the language for the future.  This interviewee expressed his concern about the language being lost altogether.  I would like to learn more about how and why the Isthmus Zapotec language is prolifically written, and the other Zapotec languages are not.  Is Isthmus Zapotec viewed as a literate model for other Zapotec languages?

Still looking for a native IZ speaker:  The interviewees told me that they did not know of any Isthmus Zapotec speakers in Los Angeles.  However, the male interviewee said that there is a gringo who speaks IZ that had spent some time in his village documenting his language.  The interviewee said that his organization is trying to locate this man, who supposedly is in Los Angeles now.  They want to recruit the gringo’s help with their writing system.  Anyways, the interviewee said he will let me know if he is able to contact the man. 

 

Week 8 Completed Memrise Course!

Week 8

Word of the Week:  ñee bere huiini ‘little chicken foot’

(This is the name of a flower that doesn’t look much like a chicken foot to me; it is a cute name, though.  This vocabulary came from my last lesson on Memrise, but I already knew the literal translation.  I have learned these three words from different sources.)

Completed Memrise:  I completed the Memrise course last night!!!  http://www.memrise.com/course/46103/juchitan-zapotec-2/.  The last week of working with this course had become much more difficult.  It’s not just from Spanish to IZ anymore, but from one IZ aspect to another: habitual→completive.  I spent some time working with the verb conjugations on paper, looking for spelling patterns and learning the possible variations and exceptions.  This helped me select the correct answers on Memrise, but I cannot think fast enough yet to note the correct conjugation and think of the meaning of the verb simultaneously.   I will need to spend more time learning these words either through reviewing or “watering” the vocabulary on Memrise and/or working on memorization in my notebook.  The course ended with a lesson on plants.  I suspect that the course designer intentionally ended the program this way to complete the metaphor of “planting.”  This was a refreshing way to finish the course.  These IZ words were not translated into Spanish, but rather accompanied by just a picture.  This made learning these botanical terms easy and fun.  I will continue to review what I have learned and burn into memory my 241 new vocabulary words.  I will also continue to listen to the songs and poems on the course site.    

Week 7 Grammar

Grammar:  Grammar is a wonderful thing.  Without it, human speech would be incomprehensible.  Language learners often want to begin learning the grammar of their target language right away (Griffiths, 2008).  Knowing the rules of the language allows learners to know when they make mistakes and how to correct them.  For me, learning the rules or principles of Isthmus Zapotec provides me with a map or key to the language. 

Most important for me: The most important grammatical feature I needed to understand when beginning to learn this language was that many IZ words (and sometimes whole sentences) are clusters of affixes.  Without knowing this, it can be nearly impossible to look a word up in the dictionary.  Learning the common prefixes, infixes, and suffixes of IZ gave me the ability to decipher the meaning of new words (Leaver et al, 2005).  It is especially important to recognize a prefix and infix in order to look past them to find the root word.  Often times the spelling of the root word is affected by the prefix, so being aware of these changes allows for better troubleshooting skills when trying to find the meaning of a new word.  For instance, many IZ words begin with an ‘x’ followed by another consonant (Britton, 2003).  To a native English speaker, this looks intimidatingly foreign; but often times, it just means ‘of’ or the equivalent of the English possessive ‘s: xpere Juan ‘John’s chicken.’  The IZ word for ‘chicken’ is actually bere not pere, but like I mentioned, prefixes can change the spelling of the root. When an x is added to b at the beginning of a word, the b becomes a p forming xp.  This is crucial to know because even if I recognized the possessive prefix but did not know the spelling rule, I would never find the meaning of pere.  However (to make sure), I was just able to find the meaning of bere in my dictionary.  

Pronunciation is grammar, too:  If we use Purpura’s (2004, cited in Griffiths, 2008) definition, grammar includes “everything speakers know about their language,” which includes “the system of meanings (semantics)” (p. 174).  Pronunciation affects meaning; therefore, how we say something can be grammatical or not.  A word pronounced incorrectly can be meaningless to a native speaker.  Tone and stress can also affect word meaning.  I was worried when I read in Leaver et al (2005) that intonation (rising and falling pattern of speech) is the most important aspect of spoken language to master, “improper intonation is far more debilitating than mispronunciation of individual sounds,” and “Even good sounds, with bad intonation, can be so irritating or confusing to a native speaker that the conversation will be impaired” (p. 163).  Intonation is what gives speakers a heavy accent.  Intonation also carries pragmatic meaning, expressing a speaker’s attitude or emotion.  Furthermore, it can indicate the difference between a question or a statement.  Knowing how to manipulate intonation to convey one’s intended meaning is crucial.  The intonation of Isthmus Zapotec is so different from English that it is one of my greatest challenges in learning the language.  For this, the Memrise native speaker audio and Podcast IZ poetry recordings are invaluable to my language learning.

Finally, using my best grammar resource:  The topic of ‘grammar’ this week is timely.  I had made it a goal of mine this week to look at Black and Pickett’s (2001) complete, electronic IZ grammar book, Gramatica Popular Del Zapotec Del Istmo.  At the beginning of this language-learning odyssey, I was certain that this found treasure would be my primary source for grammatical instruction.  Instead, I primarily referenced my Zapotec/English dictionary by Britton (2003) for its convenient introductory to IZ grammar, and a little later relied on the Memrise Juchitán Zapotec course for grammar learning.  In the back of my mind, however, I have been thinking about what I am probably missing by not looking at Black and Pickett’s book.  Needless to say, I have been very aware of the reason for my aversion.  I need this resource on paper for my idiosyncratic language-learning style, but it is 135 pages long, and I did not want to print that many pages.  Well—today, I broke down and printed the whole book and placed it in a binder.  I feel happy and almost relieved now that I can reference this material how ever and where ever I want.  It will be interesting to see how this resource influences my language learning from here on out.  I now have an investment in paper and ink, so I better make it worth it!