1063 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

what's the point of learning that language?

[spanky123]

what's the point of learning that language?

 

I have no issue with wanting to protect a language, but replacing a language that is necessary for any advancement in public sector careers in this country with one that will only ever be spoken by a few hundred people seems to me like a huge disservice to students.

[DustMagnet]

what's the point of learning that language?

 

I have no issue with wanting to protect a language, but replacing a language that is necessary for any advancement in public sector careers in this country with one that will only ever be spoken by a few hundred people seems to me like a huge disservice to students.

 

Feels good, man.

[Victoria Watcher]

ya I guess. does no good for the student. rez life forever I guess.

[amor de cosmos]

what's the point of learning that language?

i thought the principal explained it pretty well. it's the same reason people learn catalan in catalonia, for example.

[Mike K.]

Catalan is spoken by 7 million people and understood by 10 million. It’s also a language easily learned among those who speak Spanish/Italian/Portuguese.

In our local case it sounds like the teachers themselves don’t know the language and will be learning it as they teach it.

[Rob Randall]

It's funny, the rest of us are going nuts over at Ancestry.com getting our DNA analyzed and finding out your great-great-great grandparent was a fisherman or scullery maid or what have you. Meanwhile an indigenous person expresses interest in her culture and all of a sudden it's "Indians getting uppity!"

[Rob Randall]

I will say this: the alphabet is too complicated. Turkey, which speaks a blend of Arabic and Persian, abandoned Arabic script in the 1920s and switched to a Latin alphabet which looks like ours except for half a dozen modified characters. I was there and found that after 20 minutes of memorization I could reasonably pronounce any word I saw.

I figure if Arabic can be accurately latinized any indigenous language can.

[Mike K.]

Rob’s Upstairs School of Languages!:

Reasonably* pronounce our whitewashed versions of First Nations languages in 20 minutes, or get your deposit back!




*Rob’s Upstairs School of Languages reserves the right to assess the meaning of “reasonable” based on a minimum 2/15 likelihood of properly pronouncing a term of Rob’s Upstairs School of Languages choosing.

[Mike K.]

I’m just teasing.

But I fail to see how replacing French as a secondary language is more beneficial to the students, thinking globally and in terms of future employment opportunities in this country. Why not introduce the First Nations language as a third language? Young children can pick up languages very quickly.

[LJ]

Why aren't they learning it at home?

[SamCB]

^The Home Life of many FNs will take many more generations to stabilize after the effects of residential schools.

And the reason why they want to learn the language is precisely to preserve it. A language needs speakers to be preserved.... The poster who said "i have no problems with preserving a language... but why would you want to learn it?" deserves the award for least we'll considered statement of the year.

[Midnightly]

i'm all for teaching the language (any of the first nations languages) i think there should be more opportunity for those to learn traditional languages if they wish to learn them, i think it's a wonderful step towards reconciliation, i also wouldn't be against teaching of traditional skills, or even a first nations history class offered in high school/middle school where elders can come in and talk about traditional stories... but i do think these should be in addition to what is currently being offered not taking away what is currently being offered... the option of french should not be replaced with a first nation language, it should be in addition to french..

[Mike K.]

Back when I was in elementary school we had a First Nations elder come in and teach us. I can’t recall how often it was, though.

[spanky123]

^The Home Life of many FNs will take many more generations to stabilize after the effects of residential schools.

And the reason why they want to learn the language is precisely to preserve it. A language needs speakers to be preserved.... The poster who said "i have no problems with preserving a language... but why would you want to learn it?" deserves the award for least we'll considered statement of the year.

 

You are taking what I said out of context. The issue is around replacing French with a FN language, not whether FN languages should be taught. 

[Rob Randall]

Rob’s Upstairs School of Languages!:

Reasonably* pronounce our whitewashed versions of First Nations languages in 20 minutes, or get your deposit back!


*Rob’s Upstairs School of Languages reserves the right to assess the meaning of “reasonable” based on a minimum 2/15 likelihood of properly pronouncing a term of Rob’s Upstairs School of Languages choosing.

 

The reason you say Qadaffi's name spelled several different ways was that the first sound is something half-way between a Q and a K. I guess it comes down to how close is close enough. You don't want to pave over the subtlety and beauty of a language by oversimplifying it. But if it's too hard to learn as a second language it will die out.

[Jackerbie]

I’m just teasing.

But I fail to see how replacing French as a secondary language is more beneficial to the students, thinking globally and in terms of future employment opportunities in this country. Why not introduce the First Nations language as a third language? Young children can pick up languages very quickly.

 

French isn't required to graduate from high school in BC, and hasn't been since at lest 2007 when I graduated. You're only required to take a "Language Arts" course. FN languages meet this requirement.

 

Many schools only have the staff capacity to offer French, though. Bilingual students can also challenge the exam and not take a course. My Japanese-Canadian friend didn't have to take any French courses thanks to this.

[amor de cosmos]

The reason you say Qadaffi's name spelled several different ways was that the first sound is something half-way between a Q and a K. I guess it comes down to how close is close enough. You don't want to pave over the subtlety and beauty of a language by oversimplifying it. But if it's too hard to learn as a second language it will die out.

arabic has a set of consonants that includes that one, that are all made way in the back of the throat. they correspond to k, t, s, d, th. see them here https://en.wikipedia...Arabic_alphabet

SENĆOŦEN has a similar set of consonants except they're glottalized, meaning no air escapes when the sound is made. they correspond to our p, ts, t, ch, k. they also have a few others & their glottalized partners, so there are quite a few sounds that would be hard or impossible to write with our alphabet. i'm pretty sure all the salish languages and most other west-coast languages are like that

Edited by amor de cosmos, 03 September 2019 - 04:51 PM.

[Mike K.]

French isn't required to graduate from high school in BC, and hasn't been since at lest 2007 when I graduated. You're only required to take a "Language Arts" course. FN languages meet this requirement.

Many schools only have the staff capacity to offer French, though. Bilingual students can also challenge the exam and not take a course. My Japanese-Canadian friend didn't have to take any French courses thanks to this.

Sure, but you need French if you want to be the next Trudeau or a flight attendant. It’s an important language, especially since we’re a bilingual country.

[Victoria Watcher]

Sure, but you need French if you want to be the next Trudeau or a flight attendant. 

 

god forbid our kids don't aim higher.