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!     

 

Week 7 Memorized Second Poem!

Week 7

Word of the Week:  chixhe ‘hurry’

(It took me an unusual amount of time to memorize this word from Memrise, but now I own it and love using it.  I believe it took me much longer to learn this word because I was not familiar with the Spanish translation, apúrate.  Because my Memrise lessons are in Spanish, I had to learn this word in Spanish before I could get it right in IZ.  Frequently, I confused apúrate with aparece ‘appears’—IZ  ‘rihuinni.’)

  

Note about last week’s WOTW:  I was correct about the meaning of xquendaranaxhiee’; it does mean ‘my love.’  The reason I doubted myself was because in the English translation, ‘my love’ comes in the second line of the poem.  In the original IZ, it is in line four.  Also, love without all the affixes is spelled n-a-dx-i-i.  In xquendaranaxhiee’, the phoneme /dx/ (pronounced ‘j’ as in John) has changed to become /xh/ (pronounced ‘sh’ as in shell).  I have noticed a lot of spelling changes in this language; a challenging feature of learning IZ.

Memorized Second Poem:  I did it!!! My great accomplishment for the day is that I memorized Neegue’ ca (‘Just Yesterday’ by Víctor Terán)!  My sense of urgency had withered a little after Friday’s poetry event, but still within a week of my ambitious goal.  This means that I am three weeks early in meeting my goal to memorize a minimum of 20 lines of poetry; my two poems total 22 lines.  Of course, I am not going to stop here.  I will memorize one more poem by Week 10.  This is why I like setting realistic goals for myself.  I make it quite possible to experience the elation of success, which is very motivating for me.

Memorizing Neegue’ ca while watching a tennis match:  As I explained in my previous blog, I could not begin to memorize the poem until I learned the meaning of the words.  Next, I worked on learning the intonation and rhythm of the recited poem by listening to the Terán Podcast and transcribing.  I listened to the poem and read the poem many times to become familiar with it.  Today, I put in the concerted effort to memorize the poem orally and in writing.  This process began at the tennis courts.  I was conflicted by having to choose between my IZ study time and watching a loved one play a championship tennis match, so I compromised.  This was the perfect opportunity to try out listening to the recording of the poem that I made on my cellular phone for study outside of home.  With just a handwritten copy of the poem and my phone, I was able to work on memorizing Neegue’ ca while watching the tennis match.  I discovered that these two activities were compatible.  In fact, it was almost relaxing to watch the tennis ball fly from one side of the court to the other while reciting pieces of the poem aloud.  I was not sitting near anyone, so I was not at risk of sounding like a lunatic.  By the way, my loved one won the game!

Memorizing Neegue’ ca while eating pizza:  Returning home after the game, I continued the memorization process while eating pizza.  This time I, practiced writing the poem from memory, since speaking was not practical while eating.  I broke the fourteen lines into four sections, two four-line parts and two three-line parts.  After all the listening and reading practice, this memorization process through writing occurred rather easily.  I had already memorized the first section orally, so I practiced writing it to build speed.  The second section took a little more effort.  After writing it from memory, I combined writing the first two sections from memory for speed.  I thought it would take me much longer to memorize the last two pieces, since they contained the most new words for me; but surprisingly, it only took a few more rewrites until I got it.  I concluded this learning session by writing the entire poem three times from memory to ensure that I didn’t just get lucky.

Week 6 in Review: Success with Memrise; listening, recording, and speaking

Commitment and success with Memrise:  Over the past couple of weeks, I have focused on building my vocabulary and grammar skills through Memrise http://www.memrise.com/course/46103/juchitan-zapotec-2/.  I am keeping a pace through this online course by committing myself to learning (planting) something new or sometimes just practicing (watering) what I have previously learned everyday.  “Everyday” sounds demanding, but I tell myself that I only have to do ten minutes on the days that I am too tired or too busy.  So far, this has been a successful strategy to maintain discipline and motivate myself when I don’t feel motivated.  This commitment to myself does not mean that I never miss a day of Memrise—life (and sometimes death) happens.  My missed days, however, are few.  Since I began using the online Juchitán (Isthmus) Zapotec language-learning course on April 18, 2013, I have accumulated 18 hours of learning.  Not bad for less than a month!  That’s an average of about 5 hours per week of pure language-learning, not including the poetry study and additional language practice through other means.  I have been using my printed Terán poems to apply my newly learned vocabulary and grammar.  This is a part of what I call “discovery learning” because every time I look at the poetry after spending time on Memrise, I “discover” something new.  I am gradually “seeing” the language, like scales slowly being shed from my eyes. 

Listening:  Week 6 has been a week of listening.  I am learning a new poem, Neegue’ ca ‘Just Yesterday’ (see blog post http://jessicabruin.blogspot.com/2013/05/week-6-language-learning-and-motivation.html), and this time I have an audio example through the Terán Podcast http://www.poetrytranslation.org/downloads/24 (a benefit I did not have when memorizing the poem Bidxi ‘Frog’).  I aim to recite the poetry like Terán himself, thus learning how to use native-like pronunciation and intonation.  It is not enough to just imitate Terán, though.  I listened to Terán recite Neegue’ ca countless times, transcribing the poem phonetically as I heard it.  Hugely important, I realized that there are no breaks between words, only at the end of a line.  Of course, I think I can make the broad assumption that in any spoken language, speakers do not pause between every word of an utterance.  The trouble for a language learner is trying to hear where one word begins and ends; without being able to do this, it is nearly impossible to decipher any meaning from an utterance.  By phonetically (in a very amateur way) transcribing Neegue’ ca as I heard it, I could chunk words together according to stress, tone, and phoneme length.  I was able to map the melodic features of the lines of poetry that I otherwise would not be able to remember from just listening.  I basically turned the poem into sheet music, so I can more accurately practice reading the poetry without the aid of the audio.  (I suppose this provides evidence that I am a visual learner.) 

Recording:  I recorded Neegue’ ca from the Podcast onto my cellular phone so that I could use it to practice with anywhere.  After doing this, I thought about recording myself reading the poetry.  This is not something I felt comfortable with, but I thought it would probably be helpful to know what my IZ pronunciation sounds like.  I started with reciting the poem I already know well, Bidxi.  Playing the recording back was not particularly eye-opening, but I decided to keep the recording to compare with future recordings as I improve.  I then recorded myself reading Neegue’ ca before making my phonetic transcription.  After making the transcription, I recorded myself again.  There was a noticeable improvement from the first recording to the second.  Mainly, I did not have long pauses between words, making me sound like I am learning to read for the very first time.  The second improvement could be observed in my intonation; I sounded more like Terán when reading my phonetic transcription.  Lesson learned: self-recordings are worth the self-embarrassment. 

Some necessary dictionary torture:  I have a strong memory; however, I cannot memorize words that I have not given meaning to.  In order to memorize this new poem, I needed to find the meaning to all the words that I had not yet learned.  As I had mentioned in an earlier blog (if interested, see http://jessicabruin.blogspot.com/2013/04/week-4-learning-experience-using.html), I dislike using a dictionary extensively.  Nonetheless, I plowed through the new vocabulary, having to invent meaning for the words that were not in the dictionary or obviously represented in the English translation.  As previously mentioned, the English translation is not word for word.  Meaning cannot always be translated exactly from one language to another, so a poet translator must use his own creativity and talent to transfer meaning without compromising the original poet’s intent. 

An urgency to memorize for a speaking opportunity:  I was pressed to try to memorize Neegue’ ca before Friday evening (5/11).  I wanted to recite it for David Shook at his poetry event that I planned on attending that Friday.  I memorized Shook’s English translation in a day, but there were too many new things to learn before memorizing the original in Isthmus Zapotec, even within a few days.  Although I did not meet my deadline, I appreciate having the extrinsic motivation to push me to make the progress I did achieve.  Nonetheless, I had the honor of reciting Bidxi  and reading Neegue’ ca to Shook.  The embarrassment was well worth the opportunity to receive a little feedback on my pronunciation.  He kindly and attentively listened to me; and while clearly amused, provided me with an encouraging response.  I am giving myself permission to believe him for saying it wasn’t bad.  I think he mentioned something about glottal stops.  I don’t know if mine were perceivable or not, or in the right places.  No matter, I was thrilled to have the poem's translator as my audience for a few brief moments! By the way, Shook is not only a translator, but a gifted poet himself! http://davidshook.net                               

Field Trip May 11, 2013: Shook poetry event

A Rave Review:  David Shook’s book release event on May 11, 2013 at the landmark Neutra VDL house of glass in Silver Lake, Los Angeles was intimate and down to earth.  This champagne social and celebration of the release of Shook’s new poetry book, Our Obsidian Tongues http://davidshook.net/, was an unforgettable evening of literary arts.  Shook entertained his enthusiastic and attentive guests with his sharp wit and disarming humor.  His poetry, however, was the main attraction, captivating and mesmerizing all who listened.  The performance included a surprise poetry reading with Mexican poet, Gaspar Orozco.  The performance concluded with a book signing and plenty of great conversation.           

Week 6 Language Learning and Motivation

Week 6

Word of the Week:  xquendaranaxhiee’   

(I just love saying this word.  It is from the poem, Neegue’ ca ‘Just Yesterday’, which I am currently memorizing.  I’m still working out the meaning.  To me, it seems to be a possessive noun, maybe (my) ‘love.’)

Learning Experience

New goal, new poem:  My priority for this week was to begin memorizing another Terán poem.  I listened to the Terán podcast http://www.poetrytranslation.org/downloads/24

over again and read along aloud, both the English and IZ.  I enjoyed listening to the podcast more this time than the previous times.  Although I have not listened to the podcast in over a week, I have been reviewing the printed poems frequently.  I feel more familiar with the poetry now, I see more deeply into the meaning and appreciate the metaphors more than before.  I feel that I am being drawn into the poet’s world.  I also enjoyed having more of an ability to read along in Isthmus Zapotec.  (I have been getting my pronunciation practice over the past couple of weeks through Memrise http://www.memrise.com/course/46103/juchitan-zapotec-2/.)  Sometimes the poet reads faster than I can pronounce the words; but often times, I felt like I can pronounce the words along with the poet with accuracy.  It feels wonderful, like speaking in tongues.   The words just roll out of my mouth, but I can’t think and speak at the same rate yet, so I don’t necessarily know what I am saying. 

            I chose to memorize Neegue’ ca ‘Just Yesterday’ for a couple of reasons.  The poem is one that I would be comfortable reciting to others, and I think it is simple to understand and visualize for the casual listener (of course the English translation would be the source of that meaning for most).  The poem is only 14 lines long, very obtainable, and combined with the previous 8 lines of poetry learned with Bidxi, I will meet my goal of learning at least 20 lines by the end of the 10 weeks.  I will include the poem into this blog a little later.  Next I’d like to talk about motivation.
(A little later...)

Neegueˈ ca by Víctor Terán               Just Yesterday translated by David Shook 

 1         Neegueˈ ca nga                         Just yesterday

 2         sica ti xcuidi                              my love was

 3         nacu ti neza lari cubi                  like a kid breaking in

 4         xquendaranaxhieeˈ.                   the year’s new clothes.

 5         Neegueˈ ca nga                         Just yesterday

 6         riluéˈ xquiibalé yuˈduˈ                I was a bell

 7         zeˈ ne zeeda                              joyfully coming and going

 8         cabidxi yecheˈ mixaˈ.                 announcing mass.

 9         Yanna nuaaˈ                              Now I am

10        sica ti binidxaapaˈ bidaˈnaˈ         like the virgin bride whose lover

11        ne qui nuxooñenécabe laa,          refused consummation,

12        sica ti gubidxa bidé xiaga            like a sun finished burning

13        ni gatigá rindisa bi                       whose ash

14                                rucheeche laa.              is scattered by the wind.

Motivation for continued language learning:  After assessing my midterm progress, I had the feeling of reaching a milestone and beginning a new chapter in this language-learning odyssey.  I felt a little overwhelmed with what I felt I still needed to learn within the next few weeks.  When I feel overwhelmed, I experience an aversion to that which is the source of those feelings.  I overcame these de-motivating feelings by telling myself to return to my main interest of this project, which is the poetry, “Choose a new poem.”  My strategy to re-motivate myself is acknowledged by Leaver et al (2005), “renew your positive feelings and motivate yourself again” (p. 106) (see bibliography http://jessicabruin.blogspot.com/2013/04/bibliography.html).  I enjoy Isthmus Zapotec poetry very much. 

Other sources of motivation:  Typically, I consider myself to be primarily motivated to learn Isthmus Zapotec by intrinsic factors; I enjoy learning foreign languages and about people who are different from my self (Griffiths, 2008).  I am also learning this language for extrinsic reasons, such as fulfilling a course requirement.  I also have a more pressing immediate need to memorize another IZ poem.  I am thrilled to be attending a David Shook (translator of Víctor Terán’s Isthmus Zapotec poetry) event this weekend celebrating the release of his new book of poems “Our Obsidian Tongues,” and hope to have the opportunity to speak with him.  I would like to recite a Terán poem for him, and I feel that the Bidxi poem is too juvenile for the occasion.  The IZ poetry is a topic that we both have in common; therefore, my ability to recite a poem, I hope, will demonstrate my sincerity in learning the language and culture.  My ultimate goal with this would be to have Shook agree to meet with me at a later time to discuss his involvement with the language and his experiences learning IZ and translating it into English.  I would also like to ask him for the literal translation of some of the lines of Terán’s poems.  I cannot determine the meaning of every word or metaphor in IZ because Shook’s English translation is too different, and my dictionary does not have an entry for every word I’ve looked up.  Thus, my motivation at the moment to learn a new Terán poem is instrumental, helping me to make a connection with another poet and secure a future meeting.